


Lessons in Reconciliation

by undieshogun



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: M/M, Vampire AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-16
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-08-24 06:34:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 33,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16634810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/undieshogun/pseuds/undieshogun
Summary: Decades after the conclusion of a devastating war between humans and vampires that had lasting consequences on both groups, the unusual friendship between a Nohrian vampire who has spent his life in hiding and a Hoshidan human from a family of prestigious vampire hunters sets in motion a series of fateful meetings, during which they learn valuable lessons about reconciliation, and about each other.





	1. Lesson 1: A History

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hooooooooooooooooh sure has been a while. but im back on my shit because leokumi never dies. this is the first long project i have ever really completed and im real excited to share it because i love vampires and i know you all do too. I'll be updating every three or four days.
> 
> some important credits:  
> -many of the scenes throughout this story are adapted from the leokumi vampire au comics drawn by [geminid](http://geminid.tumblr.com/tagged/vampire-leo-au) on tumblr, with her permission (i will specify them before each chapter as they come up)  
> -this wasn't a collaboration, however, and the worldbuilding and everything i don't credit to her is mine
> 
> enjoy! 
> 
> you can find me on twitter @shiirasagi

Leo visits only on the darkest of nights, when the moon is still in its earliest phases and only a sliver of its form is visible. His arrival is always heralded by the sound of leathery wings beating against the still evening air, followed by the sharp gust that surges through Takumi’s open window.

Takumi pulls his yukata tighter around himself to brace against the chill as he watches a pair of impeccably waxed black leather shoes land with a gentle _tap_ atop his windowsill. He glares up as Leo’s tall, lithe figure sweeps into his room, black traveling cloak billowing behind him before coming to rest just an inch above the hardwood floor.

“Would it kill you to try being just a little quieter?” Takumi grumbles.

Leo quirks an eyebrow up at that and sweeps some imaginary dust from his shoulders. “There’s no need to fuss. I’ve yet to garner any attention from either your family or the town residents.”

“Oh, really?” Takumi retorts. “Is that why my mother asked me last week if I’ve been secretly feeding my sister’s kinshi out of my window?”

Leo lets out a sound of exasperation at that. “There’s really no way of flying quietly, you know. Also, you actually do feed your sister’s kinshi out of your window.”

“Well, it’s your funeral if you get caught,” Takumi concedes with a huff, ignoring the accusation with a staunch determination.

“I’m quite capable of taking care of myself, thank you,” Leo replies. He steps forward, only to pause when the heel of his boot clicks against the floor. Quietly, and with a trace of sheepishness in the way he looks down, he removes his shoes and places them by the window.  

“Oh, look. He’s finally learning his manners.”

Leo narrows his eyes and curls his lip in distaste, exposing a hint of a sharp, pearly white fang. “I didn’t come here to waste time indulging in pointless banter with you.”

“Actually, I didn’t invite you here in the first place, yet here you are,” Takumi counters. Still, he crosses to the other side of the room and, from a tall bookshelf resting against the wall, pulls out a gridded board carved from cherrywood along with a container of wooden chips painted with various characters.

He places the shogi set atop the low square table in the center of his room and motions towards Leo, only to see that the other has already seated himself on one of the cushions and is watching expectantly.

With an amused huff, Takumi takes his own seat across from him and begins placing the shogi pieces in their designated starting positions. “Someone’s eager.”

“I’ve mastered the maneuvers you taught me the last time we faced off,” Leo says. “I expect an effortless win on my part during tonight’s match.”

Takumi snorts. “It’s going to take a lot more than a couple of novice-level tactics to beat me.”

“Hmph. We’ll see about that,” is all Leo replies, and the match begins.  

To Leo’s credit, he lasts a good several moves longer than he had all the previous games, but the match still concludes with a complete victory for Takumi. Predictably, this provokes a demand for a rematch from Leo, and then several more after that, but none of them end in his favor.

“You know, just because you’re not winning, it doesn’t mean you’re not improving,” Takumi says placatingly as he gathers the pieces back into their container after winning for the twelfth time and refusing to play a thirteenth match.

Leo scoffs, cheeks blotted red with frustration. “Don’t patronize me.”

“I’m just being honest,” Takumi says with a shrug. He picks the shogi board up, then pauses. “You know, if you want to get better faster, you could take a board home and practice with your siblings.”

“No, thank you,” is Leo’s near-immediate, though not unkind response. “Having something like that in my possession is bound to raise questions amongst my family members.”

“Right...we’ll keep it to just the books, then.”

“A smart course of action. Speaking of the books…” Leo’s hand disappears beneath his cloak, then reappears a moment later holding a thick, leather bound book. “I finished this one just last night.”

Takumi takes it from him. “How was it?”

“Hm...my opinions on it are somewhat mixed,” Leo admits. “While the story itself was intriguing and very cleverly crafted, I found the writing to be so insubstantial that it was difficult to immerse myself completely.”

“Fair enough,” Takumi says. “This author is a good storyteller, but his artistic sense is a bit lacking.”

“I can’t say I would be terribly interested to see what his other works have to offer,” Leo says with a light, somewhat snobbish sniff.

Takumi chuckles as he rises to his feet and makes his way across the room again. After stowing the returned book and his shogi board, he takes a moment to glance through his collection of other books before choosing one from the center shelf and bringing it over.

“How about this one?”

Leo inspects the calligraphy on the cover. “A history book?”

“It’s closer to an anthology of all the major cultural transformations that have happened throughout Hoshido’s history,” Takumi explains. “I think the writing style is really engaging.”

“I see...I haven’t read much of Hoshidan history before.”

Takumi nods in understanding. “There aren’t a lot of records left, since Hoshido technically doesn’t exist anymore. Oh, but...that’s a first edition volume, so try to be careful with it.”

“I’ll see that no harm comes to it while it’s in my care,” Leo promises with a wry smile as he rises to his feet in a single graceful movement. “I suppose you ought to get some rest.”

Leo makes his way towards the window and braces a hand on the window sill. His cloak ripples behind him, as if it is alive, and Takumi spots the glow of the magic runes embroidered onto the underside before the fabric splits and reshapes itself against Leo’s back in the form of two black, spindly wings.

“Hey,” Takumi says, stopping him for a moment. “When you get bored of learning about humans...are you going to stop coming here?”

A few seconds pass as Leo gazes out the window as though in contemplation before glancing over his shoulder to reply, “Only if you find me to be a hindrance.”

“Well, I do,” Takumi says, then regrets how harshly that had come out. He fidgets slightly with the hem of his sleeve as he amends his answer. “I mean...only sometimes. You’re all right other times.”

At that, Leo lets out a quiet huff of laughter. “I’ll do my best to stay on your good side, then. Goodnight, Takumi.”

Takumi barely gets his reply out before a heavy gust of wind spills into the room and, with a flap of his wings, Leo takes off into the air and disappears into the inky blackness of the night.

-:-

“Since time immemorial, vampires have been the natural enemy of the human race, by virtue of being the sole species to stand above us on the food chain. For millennia, humans have sought ways to protect themselves from extinction at their hand, either through evolution or through technological means…”

Takumi stifles a yawn as he tunes out his tutor Yukimura’s droning lecture, his gaze drifting out the open window of the manor’s tea room and towards the courtyard. The cherry blossoms will be in bloom soon, judging by the thin slivers of pale pinks and whites peeking out of their buds due to the unusual warm draft that had swept in at the end of the winter season.

Perhaps it would be a good time to take Leo cherry blossom viewing, he thinks, though he’s not sure how impressive it would look in the middle of the night.

“Lord Takumi, are you listening?”

Takumi snaps to attention at the sound of his name, looking up quickly at Yukimura. “I am,” he replies hastily. “You were talking about the history between humans and vampires.” _Which I’ve read about only a million times by now._

“Indeed.” Yukimura clears his throat and adjusts the small, round spectacles resting atop his nose. “Despite the power they wield, many of the Nohrian vampires have chosen to go into hiding in recent years since the decline in their population following the second Hunter’s Crusade--”

“Master Yukimura, have you ever met a vampire before?”

Yukimura blinks, looking a little taken aback by the interruption--or perhaps by the question itself. “I...have not, no. Many of our generation, hunters and civilians alike, have not come into contact with vampires before.”

“Do you think you’d be scared if you came face to face with one?” Takumi asks.

“It would be natural to fear those which hunt your kind, so yes. I believe I would,” Yukimura replies. He clears his throat and takes a moment to regain his composure. “I hope I’ve satisfied your curiosity on the matter, Lord Takumi. Now, continuing on to the dissolution of the Nohrian and Hoshidan Kingdoms as a direct consequence of the Crusades…”

Takumi’s attention immediately strays again. He admits to himself (though he never would to anyone else) that a part of him tends to be on edge whenever Leo is around, but that makes him wonder--have vampires grown to fear humans too?

The second Hunter’s Crusade was ruthless; Takumi grew up on stories of what essentially amounted to mass exterminations of entire Nohrian vampire clusters, and even whole villages where humans and vampires resided together. Self-preservation is one thing, but Takumi wouldn’t be surprised if the vampires had also made themselves scarce out of a genuine fear of the creatures they’d always assumed to be their prey.

Then again, Takumi recalls that Leo never actually seems nervous when he visits. He is cautious, always, but otherwise he’s only ever projected utter conceit. In a strange way, thinking about it makes Takumi want to see Leo again. From the day they met, Leo has done nothing but contradict every preconception Takumi had about him and vampires in general--it’s difficult not to be curious about someone who is constantly proving you wrong.

Takumi watches as a soft, quiet breeze lifts some loose cherry blossom petals from their branches, sending them dancing about the courtyard, and counts the days until the next new moon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this isn't beta'd, so please forgive any glaring mistakes. also, please feel free to visit the artist's page linked in the beginning notes and give them some love!! comments, kudos, and bookmarks are all appreciated and treated with tender loving care. thanks for reading!


	2. Lesson 2: The Scenic Route

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one's long, but i had fun writing it and building up a little bit of vampire lore. enjoy!

Leo meets Takumi on the outskirts of the human city of Shirasagi.

He sweeps his gaze around the area, only letting his feet touch the ground after he’s confirmed that they are alone.

Takumi approaches as Leo dispels the wings with a silent command, letting them fall in against his back in the form of his black traveling cloak.

“Did you think I would have a group of hunters waiting for you out here, or something?” Takumi asks once he is within earshot.

“Would it be unreasonable of me to think so?” Leo replies, taking several steps forward to meet the other halfway. “You asked me to meet you on a night outside of the new moon in a location other than our usual rendezvous point. I gave you a calling stone so that you could contact me in the event of an emergency, not so you could reschedule our meetings on a whim.”

Takumi reaches up to fidget absently with the object in question, a small crystal pendant hanging around his neck, before tucking it under his kimono. “Fair enough. I had a reason for all of that, though. Come on--I want to show you something.”

Leo hesitates as he watches Takumi turn and make his way towards a dirt road leading east, away from the tall, oaken gates that mark the entrance to Shirasagi. At a fleeting glance, he can make out the multi-storied figure of a familiar manor in the center of the city.

Takumi stops when he notices that Leo isn’t following. “What is it?” he asks. “Do you not trust me?”

“I don’t trust humans in general, so no,” Leo replies, perhaps a little more off-handedly than he’d meant to.

Instead of getting defensive, however, Takumi merely nods, though his expression seems to fall slightly. He turns away, adopting a thin veneer of nonchalance. “You don’t have to come along if you don’t want to. No one’s forcing you.”

“I didn’t say I wouldn't go,” Leo replies, feeling as though he might have made a slight blunder. “I just hope you have something interesting to show me.”

“Don’t blame me if it ends up boring you,” Takumi mutters, and he begins leading Leo down the road.

Leo follows this time, wordlessly taking in their surroundings.

The majority of the land belonging to Shirasagi is rural. To the west and south, lush farmland blankets the countryside and contributes to the bounty that sustains the city. To the north, a sheer mountainous cliff--and Leo’s home, an old abandoned castle that rests at the foot of the mountain, several miles out from the city and hidden by powerful illusory magic.

Shirasagi was once a part of the Hoshidan Kingdom, but its relative geographic isolation from the rest of the territories lent to its smooth transition into an independent city-state after the kingdom's dissolution. The people subsist on their own agriculture, yet are open to trade from merchants who come from all over the world. They are happy and peaceful; they rarely leave the city, and they never go up to the mountains. It has been the ideal home for Leo and his family for the past several years.

As Takumi and Leo make their way east of the city, the scenery quickly changes into one of dense forest vegetation. Tall trees with thick trunks and closely packed broad leaves surround them and heavy underbrush creeps along the moist dirt ground beneath their feet, turning their walk into something of a trek.

After several minutes of travel, a vague feeling of apprehension begins to bubble up in Leo’s stomach.

“What could there possibly be to see in such an uninhabitable and filthy place?” 

“It’s just a bit of dirt. You find it in places where trees grow, sometimes,” Takumi says flatly. “Maybe I should have told you ahead of time so you could change out of your fancy shoes.”

“Ugh, did you bring me out here just to ridicule me?” Leo grumbles, crossing his arms with a light huff.

“While I can see the potential for an evening of fun in that, no. That’s not what I brought you out here for,” Takumi replies. “Lighten up, will you?”

Leo bristles at that. “You lighten up,” he snaps back in weak retort.

For some reason, that makes Takumi laugh--a light chuckle that shakes his shoulders a little. Before Leo gets the chance to react with indignation, however, Takumi lifts a hand to point towards an area just ahead of them.

“Look.”

Leo peers out. Just off the path, behind a cluster of trees, he spots a trace of something white. “What is that?”

“Come on.” Takumi quickens his pace and veers off the path to squeeze through two large trees.

Leo hurries behind him, pausing only to free his cloak from getting snagged on wayward low-hanging branches, or to pull his foot out of a particularly soft and rapidly-sinking patch of dirt. “Honestly, what is with this place?”

“It’s called nature,” Takumi calls over his shoulder without stopping. “Get over here, slowpoke. I thought vampires were supposed to be fast.”

“That has nothing to do with--” Leo nearly bites his own tongue as he stumbles over a gnarled root rising out of the dirt. He hastens to regain his footing, hoping the other hasn’t seen what just transpired, but when he looks up Takumi is facing away from him, standing there silently as if frozen.

As Leo regains his composure, he realizes that the two of them have reached a large clearing. All around them are thin, short trees with black branches filled to bursting with round, pale-petaled flowers that almost seem to glow beneath the dim moonlight.

“What is this place?” he murmurs, unable to take his eyes off of the delicate, almost ethereal flowers bunched together on their branches as if huddled against the wind, only to flutter loose at the slightest breeze and come drifting down like gentle snowfall.

“This is the first time I’ve ever come here at night,” Takumi says softly. It’s not even close to an answer, but it’s hard not to forgive him when he sounds just as captivated as Leo feels at the moment.

“You have these trees all over your city,” Leo recalls. “I’ve never seen so many of them in one place like this, though.”

“It’s a wild grove,” Takumi replies. Finally, he seems to have the presence of mind to turn and look at Leo. “That’s what people assume, anyway. I’ve also heard people say that there was once a palace belonging to the Hoshidan Royal Family in this forest, but it was destroyed so thoroughly in an ancient war that there’s not a single trace of it left behind except for this grove of cherry blossom trees that grew out of the ashes of the palace’s ruin.”

“How mysterious. Do all humans have such fanciful imaginations?” Leo asks.

“Only for things we can’t explain with logic and fact, I guess,” Takumi replies. He gives Leo an inquisitive look. “Are you bored yet?”

Leo makes a dismissive gesture in hopes of drawing Takumi’s attention away from the eager smile he’s having trouble containing. “I suppose I could stand to see more.”

Takumi doesn’t look impressed by the facade, but gestures at Leo to follow.

At the edge of the clearing, opposite to where they’d come in, is a small opening between two rows of wild shrubbery. As they get closer, Leo realizes it is a path that leads deeper into the cherry blossom grove. The ground here is covered in protruding roots and gangly vines; it is obvious that this is not an oft-traveled route.

Out of habit, Leo sweeps his gaze about. The same clusters of delicate white blossoms surround them, wide-spreading branches hanging overhead to create a long archway along the path. It almost feels like walking through a portal into another world, and he wonders what he’ll see on the other side.

“You don’t have to be so anxious, you know.”

Leo immediately turns to Takumi with a scowl. “I’m not anxious.”

“Then why do you keep squinting around like you’re expecting someone to jump out at you any second?”

“Setting aside the very real possibility of an ambush, merely being spotted so close to a human settlement would cause a great deal of inconvenience for me and my family,” is Leo’s justification. “And for yours as well, I imagine.”

“Relax. Nobody's come out to the forest in years,” Takumi insists. “And even if they did, no one in their right mind would be out here at a time like this. Even I’m wondering what in gods’ name I’m doing out here--and with a vampire, of all people.”

“Mm,” Leo hums mildly in agreement. “Your inexplicable trust in me is a wondrous thing, indeed.”

“It’s not trust,” Takumi says, quick to correct Leo. “I just figure if you wanted to gut me and leave me on the side of the road you would have done it a long time ago.”

Leo’s eyebrows go up, lips curling slightly in amusement. “Is that what you believe vampires do with their prey?”

“Isn’t it?”

“Hmph. If only we could afford to be so wasteful.”

“I’ve read about how you hunt,” Takumi says. “Stories and accounts of how you’d steal into people’s homes and then leave their corpses in their beds for their families to find--or how you’d spirit people away and they would never be found again.”

“And I’ve seen firsthand how you retaliated by massacring thousands of my kind,” Leo growls through his teeth.

Takumi’s cheeks turn red with indignation . “ _I_ wasn’t a part of any of that!”

“Naturally not, considering the Hunter’s Crusades took place nearly a century ago. Your family holds prestige for breeding capable hunters, but you’ve never actually killed a vampire before, have you?”

“...No,” Takumi admits, his voice turning quiet. “The last person in my family to have even seen one is my grandfather, and he died nearly fifteen years ago.”

Takumi stares down towards the ground, eyes hidden beneath his bangs, as he watches cherry blossoms swirl around his and Leo's ankles with every step they take before settling back onto the ground to form a plush, white carpet. Leo follows his gaze and wonders vaguely when it was that he’d started walking at Takumi’s side rather than behind him.

“I’ve never killed a human, either,” Leo confesses, though he’s not sure why. Is it reassurance? And if so--for whom?

Takumi looks up at him, eyes wide. “Wait, really?”

“Is that so difficult to believe?” Leo asks, taking offense to Takumi’s incredulity. “I was just a child when my family was driven into hiding during the Crusade. Taking any human lives from then on would have put us in more danger than it was worth.”

“Then how do you feed yourselves?”

Leo cocks an eyebrow. “You know that we are capable of sustaining ourselves on things other than human blood, right?”

“I know that!” Takumi snaps, before his irritated expression turns into something slightly more subdued. “But isn’t it difficult finding other food?”

“Not particularly,” Leo replies with a shrug. “The land here is abundant in wild game, and the soil is rich with nutrients. What humans can thrive on, so often can vampires.”

“Oh. I see,” Takumi murmurs.

The two of them fall into silence, a pensive look crossing over Takumi’s face. Leo directs his gaze forward, sorting through some of his own thoughts. But just as the path ahead of them is beginning to impress upon him a feeling of endlessness, the cherry blossom trees fan out into an opening.

Water, still and glassy, glints underneath the light of a half-moon as they come to the edge of a small lake surrounded by wild cherry blossom trees. The tiniest of ripples, created by the gentle sway of the small bamboo boat tied to an old but sturdy pier, fade away before they can reach the center of the lake. Cherry blossoms drift down from spindly dark branches, only to touch upon the surface of the water without causing even the slightest disturbance, as if completely and utterly weightless.

It is breathtaking.

The two of them stand quietly on the bank, side by side, staring. Several minutes pass, but the silence is not awkward. Out of the corner of his eye, Leo can see the tension melt away from Takumi’s shoulders, his posture shedding some of its stiffness. Then, he looks up at Leo.

“Can I ask you something?”

Leo meets his gaze. “What is it?”  

“I was thinking about what we discussed earlier, and I was just wondering why vampires have to kill every human they feed from,” Takumi says. “If it’s just blood you need, why couldn’t you just take less so that your victims don’t have to die?”

“Mm. It’s been debated before, and considered amongst many clusters at some point, as well,” Leo says.

“That’s it? Just debated and considered?” Takumi says, unimpressed. “You all just said, ‘hey, maybe we don’t _have_ to kill all these humans who have feelings and thoughts and families just like us,’ and that was as far as you got?”

“Let me ask you this: why do you kill all of the livestock whose meat you consume on a regular basis? Couldn’t you simply carve out certain sections of their bodies while sparing their lives?”

“Well--yeah, we could, but…” Takumi stutters for a second, caught off-guard by the question. “I mean, even if we did that the animals would all be permanently injured; they can’t just grow all of that back. There’s also the fact that there wouldn’t be nearly enough food or other resources to go around if we did that. We use every part of the animals we kill.”

“Similar principles apply to the reasoning we use when it comes to hunting and consuming our prey,” Leo says. “It’s not because we’re cruel creatures, just as humans don’t kill their own prey out of cruelty. We don’t find joy in taking lives, but doing it any other way simply isn’t sustainable. Trust me on that.”

At that, Takumi’s expression twists with confusion. “Why does it sound like you’re speaking from experience?”

Leo hesitates, tempted to tell Takumi that he isn’t obligated to share anything about himself. But there is no judgment in Takumi’s gaze, only an expectant curiosity. Leo sighs. “Because I am. There was a period of time when my family and I attempted to feed from humans without killing them.”

Takumi’s eyes widen, and there is a hint of betrayal in his voice when he says, “You told me you’ve never hunted a human before!”

“I said I’d never killed a human, and I was telling the truth,” Leo corrects him. “This was shortly after the conclusion of the second Hunter’s Crusade, when we first went into hiding. My elder siblings suggested it because they believed that if there were no deaths, then nobody would detect our presence. I was young at the time, though, and took it as an act motivated by mercy.”

“Really? Well, what was it like?” Takumi asks.

“We had settled temporarily near a large city at the time, not unlike Shirasagi. Every evening, just before the denizens went into their homes for the night, we would seek out our prey and take from them just enough that they could still survive the encounter. Then, we would use magic to heal the wounds we’d inflicted and let them continue on home with no memory of what had transpired. At first, it seemed as though it was working.”

Takumi stares up at him with an avid attentiveness. “What went wrong?”

“It was exhausting, for one thing. We had to expend all the energy that went into finding each mark, only to be rewarded with a mere fraction of the return, and we went home hungry each dawn. Furthermore, we were beginning to realize that our actions had consequences. Though the weakened state we put our marks in was temporary, we found that it left them vulnerable to illnesses and prone to injury, and many of them died regardless or were otherwise permanently affected.” With a soft sigh, Leo shakes his head. “Sometimes an act of what one perceives as mercy only leads to further suffering.”

“Is that when your family decided to stop drinking human blood?”

“Essentially, yes. We weren’t adept at hunting animals, so it led to many difficult years, but we knew at that point that we had no other choice.”

“That...must have been really hard,” Takumi murmurs, looking down. He scuffs his feet lightly against the ground as he processes all of this, kicking up cherry blossom petals. The sound of the petals and other foliage fluttering through the air surrounds them, and a nearly imperceptible breeze brushes against their clothes and exposed skin.

Takumi looks up, expression heavy with remorse. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s long passed,” Leo says with a shrug.

“Well, not just about that. I mean I really am sorry.”

Leo frowns, confused. “Whatever for?”

“Just--all of the things I’ve been saying and assuming about you...about your kind, I mean.” Takumi shifts his feet a little, looking down at the tall grass they are standing in. “I grew up knowing that the Crusades were something we should never repeat, but we were still taught all of these ideas about vampires, about how they were these cruel predators who only saw us as their prey...So I wanted to apologize for that, for whatever it’s worth coming from me.”

“...Oh,” Leo says softly. At first, he finds himself reluctant to believe his ears, but the sincerity in Takumi’s voice is unmistakable. “Well, to be perfectly frank, I’d say it isn’t worth much at all coming from a single human.”

Takumi’s shoulders sag a little at that, but then Leo continues on.

“I do appreciate the sentiment on a personal level, though. You’re nothing like what I expected from a human, so I suppose I owe you an apology as well,” he says.

Takumi seems reluctant. “That’s not your fault, considering what you’ve been through.”

“Still, thank you for defying my expectations,” Leo says, and he can’t help the tiny smile that pulls at his lips.

It is then that Takumi appears to relax. "You're welcome," he replies. 

A beat passes.

“This doesn’t make us friends or anything, just so we’re clear,” Takumi mutters, still not meeting Leo’s gaze.

Leo lets out a small scoff. “Naturally. I hardly have the time for such trivial sentiments in the first place.”

Takumi’s eyes widen in an expression Leo can’t quite read before he looks away with a quiet huff. “Great. Glad we’re on the same page.” Then, he turns and begins making his way back down the cherry blossom path.

“Hold on--” Leo calls, hastening to keep up with him.

“I’m tired,” Takumi says. “You can’t expect me to stay out here all night with you.”  

“Ah...of course not,” Leo concedes. He turns for one last look at the lake as it disappears from view behind a curtain of low-hanging cherry blossoms. “I would like to come back here sometime, though.”

Takumi shrugs. “Well, you know where it is now.”

“...Right,” Leo replies haltingly.  

Sensing the hesitance in his voice, Takumi cocks an eyebrow at him. “What, afraid you’ll get lost in here?”

“I’ll have you know that my sense of direction is in perfect order, thank you,” Leo replies somewhat heatedly, fighting down the blush rising in this cheeks.

“Then you should be fine with making your way out on your own instead of just following me all the way back, right?” Takumi makes a small, silly-looking fluttering motion with his hands in what Leo assumes to be a mockery of his wings.

Leo bristles. “Then perhaps I’ll do just that, and you can walk home in the dark on your own,” he snaps.

Takumi blinks at him, so taken aback by the sharp retort that he stops walking. Then, amazingly--he laughs, the corners of his eyes crinkling in a strikingly endearing manner. “Sorry, I was just joking. I didn’t realize you were...walking me home.”

“I was only doing it out of courtesy,” Leo clarifies, crossing his arms in indignation. “I imagine it can be dangerous for humans to wander about at night.”  

“I can take care of myself, you know.” Takumi’s expression softens, and his lips curve into a small smile. “Thanks, though.”

For a moment, Leo is unable to turn his gaze away from Takumi’s, and the other stares back, eyes bright with sincerity, until the moment passes and awkwardness settles into the space between them.

Leo is the first to look away, clearing his throat as he turns back towards the path. “Shall we?”

The two of them walk side by side down the path, a comfortable silence eventually giving way to quiet, casual smalltalk as the cherry blossom trees around them rain cotton-soft petals that brush against their shoulders and catch in their hair.

Leo finds himself stealing glances at Takumi, at dark eyes serene as they take in the grove’s rich beauty, at cheeks and nose dusted pink from the brisk night air. There is something undeniably fascinating about Takumi as a human; his intelligence, his empathetic nature--Leo has rarely seen such traits in humans or vampires, yet Takumi has never claimed to be anything but ordinary. Leo can’t help but be curious to learn more--not only about humans, but about Takumi himself.

Leo’s hands turn cold at the thought, and he tucks them into his pockets. Takumi doesn’t notice the motion, as he’s been busy talking about the evening festival his family is planning to hold for the town in the autumn.

Leo typically isn’t one for pointless festivities, but he listens nonetheless as Takumi goes on and on about food vendors and games and fireworks, and can’t help that little by little, he is starting to look forward to it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading, commenting, and leaving kudos!! next chapter coming in a couple of days!


	3. Lesson 3: Introductions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope everyone had a great thanksgiving! and for those who don't celebrate, i hope you had a great normal or otherwise significant thursday!

Takumi skims book titles on the shelf in front of him, mouthing them to himself as he goes. Most of them are ones he’s read; others he is familiar with, but hasn’t gotten around to yet. He traces his fingers over the spines, the contact making a soft sweeping sound that’s louder than he’s used to. 

The library at Shirasagi Manor is a different kind of quiet at night than it is during the day. When the sun is out, one can always hear the soft bustle of activity as residents of the manor come and go, retrieving books for their own purposes or seeking a peaceful place to pass some time. Even in the emptiest corners of this wide, tall-roofed room, the sounds of the goings-on throughout town from the streets below tend to drift through the open windows. 

At night, however, absolute silence takes over. Activity ceases, and the great oaken double doors are closed and bolted until the next morning. Takumi has snuck into the library at night on many occasions before, but he can never get used to that silence, so thick and oppressive that it even seems to muffle the soft crackle of the flame in his lantern. 

Tonight, however, in his company is a sound that the still silence of the library cannot mask--that of heeled boots clicking against the polished hardwood floor. 

Takumi narrows his eyes as he turns towards the source: a certain guest roaming amongst the shelves towards the other side of the room. “Don’t you have any quieter shoes you could wear when you come?” 

Leo pays his concerns very little mind as he continues about his business, pausing every once in a while to examine a few titles with a passing interest before moving on. “I suppose I do, but they typically don’t suit the rest of my ensemble.” 

“Really?” Takumi’s voice pitches up in incredulity before he remembers to lower it, sending a glance towards the doors. When he looks back at Leo, the other is exploring the shelf just across from him, several feet away. “You risk getting discovered every time you come here just because you can’t wear shoes that don’t match your outfit?”

“It’s somewhat more complicated than that, but I won’t expect you to understand,” Leo replies in that condescending way he knows Takumi despises. “But relax, would you? Nobody will find us.” 

“How can you be so sure?” 

“Because if there was someone coming, I would hear them before they heard us.” 

It takes Takumi a second to realize Leo’s meaning. “Oh, your freaky good hearing. Right.” 

“It’s not ‘freaky,’ it’s typical of our kind and essential to our survival,” Leo asserts. “There are plenty of other beings of life in this world whose hearing is more well developed than that of humans.” 

“I mean, sure...like dogs.” 

Leo stiffens, then swivels to glare at Takumi. “Dogs are majestic creatures,” he says with a level of indignation that Takumi had not been expecting. “They may not be as intelligent as us, but that doesn’t make them any less capable in their own right, and they should be respected.” 

For a brief moment, Takumi is speechless. Then, “Wow. So...you like dogs.” 

Leo abruptly turns back towards the bookshelf, hiding his face from view. “I admire them, yes.” 

“Do you...have a dog?” Takumi ventures as a giddy sort of fascination rises within him. He’s never seen Leo get this excited about anything. 

Leo’s shoulders are tense, and he doesn’t turn back around as he answers. “No. My brother believes them to be dirty and...difficult to manage.” 

“And you just listen to whatever your brother says?” 

“What, and you don’t?” Leo says, turning back around yet again, this time to level a glare at Takumi. “Your elder brother  _ is _ the current head of your family, isn’t he? Which also makes him the leader of your city.” 

Takumi bristles. “Not yet, he isn’t!” 

“From what you’ve told me, he essentially is in all but name.” 

“Ugh, whatever,” Takumi mumbles. “I  _ was _ leading up to an offer to let you meet our dog, but I’m going to assume you’re not interested.” 

Leo’s eyes widen at that, and his mouth falls open slightly. “You own a dog?” 

“Her predecessors were all bred as hunting dogs, but she’s basically the family pet at this point,” Takumi says with a casual shrug. 

“And...you would let me meet her?” 

“Only if you agree to stop bringing my brother up in conversation.” 

Leo’s eyes light up in a way that makes his entire face practically glow with excitement. “Take me to her.” 

Takumi can’t help the soft laugh that escapes him, or the strange feeling of fondness that swells in his chest. “Fine, but we have to be quiet.” 

“I can do that,” Leo agrees to without protest. 

“Huh. If only I knew from the start that this was all it took to make you listen,” Takumi mutters, lifting his lantern and heading out of the library. 

Leo follows him, once again without making any clever retorts. He seems preoccupied, the expression on his face almost wistful, as if he’s already daydreaming about meeting a certain someone. 

It’s pitch black in the inner halls of the manor, which don’t benefit from the large latticed windows that line the outer halls. Though, even if they did, Takumi supposes they wouldn’t be of much help on a night of new moon like tonight anyway. His lantern illuminates just enough of the space in front of him that he doesn’t walk into the wall, but he navigates most of the way down towards the courtyard by memory. 

Leo, to his credit, is frighteningly silent beside him--somehow, those heeled boots of his that had been so noisy in the library are entirely noiseless out here, despite the same hardwood flooring. Takumi is inclined to believe that Leo has always had the ability to mask the sounds he makes, and only chooses not to in order to annoy Takumi. It’s irritating and, at the moment, also unsettling. If Takumi couldn’t see Leo out of the corner of his eye, he might imagine he was completely alone down here. 

Takumi opens his mouth to whisper to Leo that he doesn’t have to be  _ that _ quiet, but before he can get anything out the flame in his lamp suddenly flickers and dies out, leaving the two of them in total darkness. 

His first reaction is to stand stock-still and panic. His heart immediately begins pounding, and his grip tightens painfully around the staff of the lantern. He takes deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself, blinking desperately against the inky blackness surrounding him, but nothing registers. He fights to keep his breathing under control, doing his best to stifle the short gasps rising in his throat as his chest tightens--

“Takumi, calm down.” 

He jumps slightly at the voice that comes out of nowhere, until he remembers suddenly that Leo is still with him. He grasps mentally at the voice, at the smooth and even tone of it, and uses it to gather himself back together. 

“I-I’m fine,” he replies, trying to still his trembling hands. 

There is a whisper of movement, and then Leo is standing right next to Takumi, their shoulders brushing against each other. Takumi has to hold himself back from clutching at him reflexively. 

“Takumi...are you afraid of the dark?” 

“No!” Takumi snaps. Then, after a long pause: “I-I was when I was younger. I’m mostly over it now, but...I got a caught a little off-guard there. Go ahead and laugh if you want.” 

“I’m not laughing. If anything, I think it’s only natural for creatures with no night vision to fear the dark,” Leo assures him. 

Takumi quashes the strange impulse to thank Leo for not poking fun at him, and instead merely gumbles, “Yeah, whatever. Since you can see so well in the dark, mind lighting the lantern again for me?” 

“I would be happy to oblige...” 

“Great.” 

“...if the wick hadn’t burned out.” 

Takumi swallows dryly as Leo’s words sink in. “Oh. W-well, can’t you light a fire with a spell, or something?”

“Elemental magic requires a physical conduit to control. I don’t have any such tools on me.” 

“Well, that’s just magnificent,” Takumi declares, his voice cracking as he wrestles with the inner panic that begins to rise in him once again until suddenly, a shock of cold against his hand snaps him out of it. He recoils instinctively with a hiss. 

“Sorry, sorry...that was me,” Leo says, sounding a little sheepish. “Here.” 

Takumi feels that frigid touch on his wrist again, gentler this time, and realizes it is Leo’s hand. “Geez, how are your hands so cold? It’s like touching ice.” 

“That’s...just how I am,” Leo replies, sounding a little flustered. Then, he guides Takumi’s hand towards his arm. “You can lead by memory, right? Just tell me where to go until your eyes adjust.” 

Takumi grasps lightly at Leo’s sleeve. Contrary to the state of Leo’s hands, the rest of him radiates a mild warmth from this proximity, although it is nowhere near to the same degree as a human’s. Still, it’s enough that Takumi almost forgets for a moment that he _ isn’t _ human. 

“Fine,” he finally concedes. “Just head down this hall and then make a right.” 

Leo complies, and together they resume their journey. 

Takumi’s vision adjusts slowly, and to a frustratingly weak degree. He can make out only the vaguest of shapes; it’s too dark, and it’s starting to unnerve him again. He can’t remember the last time he was in a situation like this. 

As if sensing his discomfort, Leo changes his pacing slightly, moving a little more slowly. Takumi concentrates on not gripping Leo’s arm too tightly and hoping against all hope that the other doesn’t think him pathetic for being so frightened in his own home.  

His thoughts are cut short, however, as Leo’s voice once again breaks through the stifling silence. 

“What’s her name?” 

Takumi blinks. “Um...what?” 

“Your dog. Humans are in the practice of naming their pets, are they not?” 

“Oh, yeah. H-her name’s Manjuu.” 

“Manjuu,” Leo repeats thoughtfully. “That’s the name of a Hoshidan dessert, isn’t it?” 

“Um...we were really young when she was born and our dad let us name her,” Takumi explains. 

Leo chuckles softly. “That’s adorable.” 

Takumi’s cheeks feel warm as he mumbles, “Yeah, whatever.” 

“How long has she been with your family?” 

“She’s twelve years old now. Still pretty energetic, though,” Takumi says. “Oh, it’s right through this door.” 

A dim light glows through the paper covering of the wood-latticed sliding door, and Takumi pushes it open to reveal an expansive courtyard. 

A lush garden fills the area, with vivid chrysanthemum and peony bushes lining the walkways that branch out from the concrete fountain in the center and wind throughout the rest of the courtyard. Cherry blossom and wisteria trees circle the yard, scattering wisps of pink and purple about, and the open sky above is a black canvas dotted with a myriad of twinkling stars. With the dim, gentle light filling the air comes a breath of relief that spills out of Takumi’s chest, which Leo (thankfully) either doesn’t notice or doesn’t heed. 

“Impressive,” is Leo’s assessment of the garden. “I see humans have a taste for the extravagant.” 

Takumi sniffs. “Right. This coming from the guy who wears a cape that turns into wings.” 

“It’s a cloak.” 

“Tomato, to-mah-to.” 

“You’re insufferable,” Leo sighs, effectively ending the conversation as he makes his way into the courtyard. “So, where is she?” 

“Probably just waking up.” Takumi clicks his tongue twice, and the two of them wait in silence for a short moment. 

Then, a rustling sound comes from in between two camellia bushes to their right--and a large bundle of white and brown launches out of the shrubbery and straight at Takumi. 

Takumi kneels down to receive Manjuu the Akita with open arms and a delighted laugh, letting her leap up against his chest and bump her snout against his chin in greeting. 

“Hey, Manjuu.” Takumi giggles as Manjuu plants a wet kiss on his cheek, he and returns the favor with a hearty scratch between her ears. “Okay, settle down. I want you to meet someone.” 

Takumi looks up, only to see Leo standing at a fair distance away and watching with some measure of apprehension. 

“She won’t bite,” Takumi says, raising an eyebrow. “I thought you liked dogs.”

“I do. I’ve just never actually met one,” Leo confesses. He gives Manjuu a nervous look, then averts his gaze. “At least, not one that liked me back.” 

“Oh, right...I’ve always heard that animals don’t like vampires very much,” Takumi recalls. 

“They’re uneasy around us by instinct. Humans are the same--you’re always very tense in my presence,” Leo says in what he surely imagines is a matter-of-face tone, but Takumi can detect the slightest hint of dismay in his voice. 

“That’s just how I always am. Try not to take it personally,” Takumi reassures him, though it is at best only a half-truth. He can’t help but be perturbed by the way Leo’s fangs glint against lamplight, or the way his eyes take on an eerie red glow in the dark, but at least he has the grace not to bring it up in the moment.

Still, though Leo seems to relax a little at Manjuu’s general lack of a reaction towards him, he keeps his distance. “She’s lovely. Rather small for a hunting dog, though, isn’t she?” 

“Well, you don’t have to be big to be a hunting dog,” Takumi replies. He strokes a hand through Manjuu’s thick, straight fur, and Manjuu scrunches her eyes closed in satisfaction. “You just have to be a good tracker.” 

“If I recall, your family has a history of being the primary provider of wild game for the town, in addition to your reputation as vampire hunters.” 

“Yeah, but we don’t do that much anymore except for ceremonial purposes,” Takumi says. “The livestock from the farms has been more than enough in recent years.” 

“I see…” 

Takumi raises an eyebrow at Leo. “So, are you going to come meet her?” 

“I don’t want to frighten her.” 

“She’s really well-trained. She won’t run off, or anything,” Takumi promises. “Besides, she really wants to meet you...don’t you, Manjuu?” 

Manjuu’s ears perk up at the mention of her name, and she pants happily as Takumi rubs her head. 

Even in the dark, Takumi can see the way a faint pink hue blooms high in Leo’s cheeks as he inches forward slightly, watching Manjuu carefully. 

As the movement catches her attention, Manjuu shifts her paws slightly, alert, but doesn’t move as Takumi continues running his hand down her back in a soothing line. 

“Stay, Manjuu. Good girl,” he murmurs. Then, he looks up at Leo. “Here, hold your hand out.” 

Leo obeys, leaning down slightly and offering an open hand for Manjuu to inspect. 

Manjuu does so, pressing her nose against the palm of his hand and snuffling for a short moment against his skin before pulling back abruptly to let out a violent sneeze. 

Leo flinches back, but then Manjuu is in his space again, rising to her feet and circling about his legs to continue her exploration of him. 

“Um…” Leo utters, standing stock-still and watching Manjuu with wide eyes. 

Takumi can’t help but laugh at the sight. He’s never seen Leo afraid of anything--yet here he is, trembling in his buckled shoes in the presence of the sweetest, most harmless creature in the city. 

“Relax,” Takumi says, ignoring the way Leo bristles slightly in indignation. “She’s just curious about you. It means she wants to be your friend.” 

“Oh,” Leo says softly. He twitches slightly as Manjuu’s nose bumps his wrist, then raises his hand and rests it gently atop her head. “It’s nice to meet you, Manjuu. I’d like to be your friend, too, if you don’t mind.” 

Manjuu leans into his touch briefly, her tail swinging like a pendulum, before she drops onto the floor with a loud huff and rolls over to expose her belly. When Leo raises his eyebrows at Takumi in a silent request for guidance, Takumi just smiles and kneels down to indulge Manjuu in an enthusiastic belly-rub, eliciting a satisfied rumble from her. 

Leo follows his example with a somewhat more hesitant, gentler gesture. “I didn’t think she would accept me so easily.” 

“Honestly, that’s probably the longest it’s ever taken her to warm up to someone,” Takumi says, completely serious. 

Manjuu’s tail knocks against the ground with a rhythmic  _ thump-thump _ as she happily receives the affectionate scratch against her scruff Leo gives her. “I think I may be falling in love,” Leo says, his expression melting into one akin to childlike delight. 

For some reason, the image before him and Leo’s words provoke in Takumi a sensation of vague restlessness, and he pulls away for a moment as though to put a distance between them. 

Leo must notice this, as he glances up. “What is it?” 

“Um--nothing,” Takumi says, clearing his throat nervously. Manjuu, sensing his unease, rises to her feet and leans up to nuzzle his cheek comfortingly. 

Leo watches for a moment, expression soft. “She really loves you. I wasn’t aware that animals had such a capacity for affection.” 

“We’re not so different, in some respects,” Takumi replies. He hesitates then, struggling to decide on whether he wants Leo to go or stay a little longer, and wondering why he’s having this conflict at all. 

As he watches the way Leo smiles gently while petting Manjuu, however, his expression lighting up with surprise and adoration when Manjuu licks his cheek joyfully in return, the answer becomes a little clearer. 

“So, there’s this game she likes to play where she lets us hide her toys and then goes and finds them,” Takumi says. “Want to give it a go?” 

The brightness in Leo’s smile seems to light up the entire garden. “I’d love to.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was born from a deep-running headcanon that leo fucking loves dogs. thats it. i also liked exploring a somewhat more childish side of him. thanks for reading everyone! hope you liked it!


	4. Lesson 4: The Arts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yehaw chapter 4 is here!! please do enjoy

Leo tugs his cloak tighter around his shoulders and ducks his head. “I really don’t think I should be out here at this time.” 

“Relax. As long as you don’t smile too wide, no one’s going to notice you,” Takumi replies. 

Leo purses his lips, drawing his gaze down when a passerby glances towards him. Nobody seems to pay them any mind on this busy town street, but he has trouble containing his nerves nonetheless. “My fangs are hardly my only distinguishing feature.” 

“Mm, right--there’s also your sterling personality.” 

“Takumi…” Leo steps in closer to Takumi as a small herd of giggling, brightly-dressed young men and women brushes past them. The strong scent of flowery perfume washes over him, overpowering his senses momentarily. “Ugh.” 

“Hey.” Takumi steps in front of him, catching his gaze. “If something happens, I’ll deal with it. You’re safe with me, all right?” 

Leo stares at Takumi, his eyes widening. Takumi’s words, spoken with such confidence and firmness, also carry in them a hint of gentleness. Thrown off-balance, Leo finds himself unable to formulate a timely response. 

Takumi, ever the impatient one, takes his silence for skepticism. 

“Look, your masking spell is doing just fine,” he says, waving a hand over his own face. “No glowy eyes, no big fangs...all you have to do is keep it up.” 

“It’s not as easy as you make it sound. Spells like these take a fair amount of both concentration and energy.” 

A look of mild regret crosses over Takumi’s face. “We can still go back if you want to,” he offers.  

“No, it’s-it’s fine,” Leo says quietly. He glances out towards the street, but no one seems to be paying them any attention. “You’ve already taken the time to bring me out here, after all.” 

“We’re going to a show,” Takumi says. Apparently satisfied that Leo is willing to continue on, he turns back around to resume his lead. 

“A kabuki performance,” Leo recalls. “I’ve heard about them. It’s a long-standing Hoshidan theatre practice.”  

“My parents used to take me and my siblings to town to watch these shows all the time. It was our favorite thing,” Takumi says. “We would all wait for the end of the week to come, and then pester them until they agreed to take us, even if it was the same performance we’d seen the week before.” 

“And what about now?” 

Takumi’s expression falls slightly, nostalgia melting into something more downcast. “No one really has the time for it anymore. My mother and father are both important figures in the city, and my brother is getting ready to take over as head of the family. We don’t see much of each other in general, these days.” 

Leo can’t help the twinge of regret he feels. “I’ve brought an unpleasant topic to the conversation. I’m sorry.” 

“It’s...fine. That’s about what you’d expect for a family that has as much responsibility towards the city’s well-being as mine does,” Takumi replies, not looking at Leo as he continues on down the street.  

Leo takes this as a sign that Takumi has no interest in continuing this line of conversation, so he lets it fall to silence and instead takes a moment to observe his surroundings. 

The city of Shirasagi is busy in the late afternoon, with many of its denizens bustling about to complete their errands as the sun begins its descent across the wide horizon. Shop owners leave their doors open and invite passersby to peruse their wares, while food vendors stock their carts with freshly prepared treats for the incoming dinner rush. 

Leo has never been around so many humans at once. A mix of different scents fills the air--excitement, anxiety, contentedness, and a bit of exhaustion; but there isn’t a hint of fear or alarm anywhere within. No one seems to notice anything unusual about him, which he takes as a sign that the masking illusion is working as it should. As far as they’re concerned, he’s one of them. But for him, this is a wholly novel experience. 

“The people of this city have grown quite complacent, haven’t they?”

Takumi raises his eyebrows at Leo. “What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“Their enemy walks among them,” Leo says, “yet none of them seems to realize it.” 

“I hope this isn’t you confessing to me that you’re about to leap on someone and start draining them.” 

“Of course not! Would it kill you to keep your voice down?” Leo hisses, bristling. He pauses to compose himself. “Besides, I had my breakfast before I came, so my appetite is entirely in check.” 

“Uh-huh. Just relax already, would you? Like I said, you might look a little different from the typical Hoshidan, but we get lots of foreigners here in the city--merchants and stuff from all over the world. You fit in just fine.” 

“Hm...your people do tend to be very hospitable, from what I’ve seen,” Leo admits. “If anything, the issue is that they’re  _ too _ welcoming. It’s a weakness where I come from.” 

Takumi rolls his eyes at that. “Well, believe it or not, the people here like to go about their daily lives without having to be on edge every waking moment, and they get to do that because they trust my family to keep them safe. It’s kind of what we’ve been doing for the past few generations, or do you just completely ignore me every time I talk about that?” 

“I don’t ignore you, Takumi. I simply retain only the crucial parts of our correspondences,” Leo teases. 

Predictably, Takumi’s cheeks turn bright red. “That’s just a pretentious way of saying you zone out all the time during our conversations!” 

“Can you blame me? Dragging me out here before the sun has even set--I’m so tired I can barely keep my eyes open.”

“So? I’m the one who’s always staying up late just to entertain you,” Takumi huffs. “This is the least you could do for me in return.” 

“Hm...you have a point,” Leo concedes after a brief moment of consideration. 

“I always have a point. Now get a move on, would you? We’re going to be late for the show.” 

-:-

Kabuki theater is nothing like Leo expected. Judging by the size of the stage (long, but narrow), he figures he ought to prepare himself for something simple, but elegant. Yet from the moment the first actor steps onto the platform, he realizes he has no idea what he’s in for. 

The first thing he notices is that the costume has clearly been spared no amount of extravagance. The actor is draped in layers upon layers of magnificent silks, all dyed in vibrant colors and embroidered in flawless stitching with intricate, ornate patterns. A pair of what appears to be genuine iron shoulder guards rests upon the actor’s shoulders, gilded in gold, and a large, hefty-looking wig adorned with many glimmering golden hairpieces rests atop his head. 

The actor’s face is as an artist’s canvas: a layer of pure white is powdered over his entire visage, upon which a bright red ink is painted in neat, curving lines across his cheeks, up his forehead, and at the corners of his eyes. His eyebrows are pinched together and his mouth turned down in a stylistic but incredibly intense, focused scowl. The element of elegance is certainly there, but it is obvious to Leo that simplicity was never going to have a part in this. 

The play is performed in an old Hoshidan dialect that he can understand, but the way the actors deliver their lines in lilting, exaggerated over-enunciation is so new and fascinating to Leo that he loses himself in the rhythm of it for much of the performance and grasps only the basics of the story. 

The tale is set during the era of the Hoshidan Empire, centuries before it became the Hoshidan Kingdom, which lasted still several more centuries before the lands under its domain split from each other to form the separately ruled states that existed now. The protagonist is a thief, and a noble one at that. He steals from the wealthy members of the Hoshidan emperor’s court and distributes his earnings amongst his poor companions. But the play ends in an unexpected and gruesome tragedy--the thief is boiled alive in a cauldron of oil along with his young son, whose dead body he holds over his head in one last act of defiance before he succumbs to his wounds. 

As the lights dim over the stage and the applause dies down, Leo watches the oil lamps lined along the walls surrounding the audience flare up, seemingly of their own accord. His eyebrows go up. 

“Magic.” 

Takumi glances at him as they rise from their seats with the other patrons. “You didn’t notice at the beginning?” 

“I suppose not. I might have been distracted watching the stage.” 

Takumi shrugs. “Fair enough. The ability to manipulate magic is pretty rare in humans, and the ones that do have it can’t do much beyond little parlor tricks like that.” 

“I see...I’d always taken my ability to wield magic for granted,” Leo confesses. 

“It’s not a big deal, we do just fine without it. Here, stay close to me.” 

Takumi leads Leo out of the theater, weaving through the shuffling crowd. Leo does as Takumi tells him to and stays on his heel, doing his best to avoid bumping into anyone for fear of being recognized. There are a number of instances where many of the humans making for the exit brush up against him or accidentally bump shoulders with him, but they don’t seem to pay him any mind beyond a sideways glance and a hastily murmured apology. 

Still, he allows himself a sigh of relief when the two of them finally find their way back onto the street and the crowd disperses. Nearly two hours have passed over the course of the play, and the sky is filled with stars now, the new moon sitting invisible against the dark canvas. It puts Leo at ease, and as the two of them make their way back towards Shirasagi Manor a tiny smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. 

Takumi glances up at him and notices. “Can I assume by your expression that you didn’t hate the play?” 

“What? No, of course not...I enjoyed it very much, actually,” Leo replies honestly. “Why would you think I’d hate it?” 

“I don't know. Sometimes I just can’t imagine you caring for anything that doesn’t involve cobwebs and eerie lights in the dark.” 

Leo stares at Takumi in mild surprise. “Are those the kinds of stories humans tell their children about vampires?” 

“Basically,” Takumi says, chuckling lightly. “What kinds of stories did you grow up hearing about humans?”  

“...I think you can imagine,” is all Leo says to that, because he isn’t quite in the mood to bring to mind images of silver glinting beneath the midday sun, or tall, hungry flames burning red against the horizon. He blinks a few times to bring himself back into focus. “I had certainly never heard any stories like the one we saw today.” 

“What do you mean?” Takumi asks, expression guarded as if he expects Leo to start poking fun at him. 

Leo, however, merely looks out at the street ahead of them and takes a moment to contemplate. Paper lanterns hanging from the roofs of each building cast a dull, warm glow across the wide market street, now quieter but still very much alive with activity. Many of the townspeople who are still out and about stroll at their own leisurely pace towards the inns and taverns from which the muffled noises of lively goings-on can be heard within. It casts a sharp contrast with the atmosphere of the play Leo had just watched, where the stage and cast had been so small, yet still managed to contain just as much life. 

And everything had surely been exaggerated, from the costume to the acting to the script itself, yet every emotion the actors had projected onto their characters had felt strangely, yet unequivocally real. 

“I didn’t know that humans...felt so deeply,” Leo finally says. “And that they cared so much about what other humans thought and felt about them.” 

A moment passes, during which it seems as though Takumi is processing Leo’s words. Then, unexpectedly, he laughs--bright and unabashed. 

Leo stiffens, defensive. “What? Why is that funny?” 

“I mean…” Takumi’s laughter fades into a wry smile. “That's one of the most basic human instincts. We're all like that.” 

“Are you saying you care about what I think of you?” Leo teases, mostly as a ploy to distract the other from how red his cheeks must be at the moment, if the warmth he feels in them is anything to go by. 

“Yeah, but only because I’d hate to get drained of all my blood some day for accidentally offending you,” Takumi replies with a shrug.

Leo rolls his eyes. He should have expected as much. “I have more self-control than that. Besides, I have standards, one of which involves not drinking sour blood.” 

“What? My blood is  _ not _ sour!” 

“It is if the smell alone is anything to go by.” For effect, Leo tilts his head away and waves his hand in front of his face, as if fending off something odorous in the air. 

Takumi’s face scrunches up with indignation, and Leo can practically see the steam coming out of his ears. “You’re one to talk. You smell like you rolled around in a pile of dust and mothballs every time I see you!” 

“I do  _ not _ .” 

“You do, too.” 

Abruptly and in surprisingly well-synchronized movements, the two of them halt in their steps to turn and glare intently at each other, eyes narrowed and jaws set. Leo purses his lips and plants his feet, as if daring Takumi into some sort of action. Takumi, on the other hand, stays right where he is, shoulders pulled in a tight line and an intense gleam in his dark eyes. 

For a moment, neither of them so much as breathes. 

Then, Takumi’s cheek twitches, and that’s all it takes to send the two of them into a fit of laughter. Leo isn’t sure where it comes from, but all of a sudden he and Takumi are heaving for breath in the midst of a stream of boisterous laughter that shatters the quiet around them. 

And in the middle of it all, Leo can’t help but notice the way Takumi laughs--his eyes scrunch up and his shoulders shake, and his voice rings out like the peal of a bell, echoing down the street. His cheeks redden, dark freckles made distinct against the color, and in that moment it strikes Leo that he never realized how full of life and joy humans could be. 

Eventually, their laughter peters off into bouts of soft giggling, and it is then that Leo notices the looks they’re receiving from the other pedestrians on the street. 

“Ah...I think we should go,” he murmurs, ducking his head as his self-consciousness returns and taking a moment to ensure that his illusion is still in place. 

“Come on,” Takumi says, and without warning he grabs Leo’s hand and begins leading him off the street and into a series of alleyways, setting a brisk pace. 

“I thought we were going to the manor,” Leo says, trying to ignore the way Takumi’s hand practically burns in his. 

“We are. This way is just quicker,” Takumi replies. A beat passes. “And less visible.” 

“Oh, so  _ now _ you care about not being seen?” 

“I don’t want people asking my family questions about you, that’s all. Prestige usually comes at the price of privacy.” 

“All right, but just-just hold on,” Leo says, tugging against Takumi’s grip until the other slows to a stop. “I need to catch my breath.” 

Takumi releases Leo’s hand, the warmth of the contact disappearing, and turns to around to cock an eyebrow at him. “You don’t get much exercise, do you?” 

“I don’t-” Leo stops himself, breathes in deeply through his nose, and straightens his back. “Forget it. I’ve had enough bickering for tonight.” 

Takumi snickers. “And I thought I almost had you.” 

“Yes, very funny,” Leo deadpans, patting his clothes back into place.

“But really...I had a lot of fun tonight,” Takumi says, the mirth in his expression turning into something softer. “Thanks for coming out.” 

“I learned a lot today,” Leo says in reply. 

“About humans?” Takumi gives him a wry smile. 

Leo looks at him and thinks about his warm hands and his loud, heartful laughter. “Yes,” he says. “About humans.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The play is a reference to the tale of Ishikawa Goemon, a very well-known classic in kabuki theater about a noble thief. Similar western archetypes are Robin Hood and Arsène Lupin. Thanks for reading!


	5. Lesson 5: Faith

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> halfway there! this one's pretty long so uhhhh strap in. also as a note, this work has already been completed so rest assured that there will not be any sudden delays (unless something serious actually happens to me LOL)
> 
> enjoy!

“...Is this appropriate?” 

“Huh? No one’s going to catch us here at this hour.” 

“I know, but isn’t this a sacred place? Something about this feels...perverse.” 

Takumi sighs and turns around to see Leo behind him, lingering at the gate to the city's main shrine. “Yeah, shrines are sacred places. So?” 

“Well, should a vampire really be tromping all over a site of worship for humans?” 

“Unless you’ve managed to personally offend the god of this particular shrine, I’d say you’re in the clear.” 

Leo still refuses to step through the arched gateway. “I wouldn’t be surprised if all of your gods hated us, if they’re as protective of their worshippers as you say they are.” 

Takumi rolls his eyes. “That’s not really how it works.” 

Leo doesn’t reply, and merely shifts his weight between his feet. If Takumi had to guess, he’d say the other might actually be nervous. 

“Look, if it makes you feel any better, I doubt the god of good harvests really cares about anything outside of the corn growing in our fields. He probably doesn’t even know who you are, unless the two of you have been introduced before.” 

“Is that the god this shrine is dedicated to?” Leo asks, and Takumi is relieved to see a small spark of curiosity returning to his eyes. 

“Him, and a few others,” Takumi says, and he beckons Leo into the shrine. 

The front courtyard leads to a path lined with small statues carved into various figures, all holding plates filled with various offerings towards the lesser gods, from trinkets to food to money. 

“I don’t really understand the need for more than one god,” Leo remarks as Takumi explains all of this to him. “Isn’t a god supposed to be omnipotent? Having more than one would just be redundant.” 

“It’s not about how many gods we need or don’t need--and gods aren’t omnipotent, otherwise we would just constantly be asking them to solve all of our problems for us.” 

Leo cocks an eyebrow. “Is that not what you do at a shrine?” 

“I can’t tell if you’re being serious or if you’re just messing with me at this point,” Takumi says, giving Leo a flat look. 

“Hm...we’ll call it an even split between the two,” Leo replies with a smirk that makes Takumi want to knock it right off his face. 

Instead, however, he merely lets out another long-suffering sigh. “In general, worship isn’t really about getting the gods to do stuff for us.” 

Takumi pauses to kneel in front of a small statue carved into the likeness of a man bent over a hearth. In front of the hearth lies the offering plate, upon which Takumi places three small pieces of coal retrieved from the pack slung over his shoulder. 

“A coal trader in the city asked me to place this offering,” he explains. “He hopes that by appeasing the god of the hearth, it will bring protection and good fortune to those who keep the hearths in their homes burning with this coal.” 

“That’s an awful lot to put in the hands of a god like that, isn’t it?” 

Takumi clasps his hands together to utter a short prayer, then rises to his feet to continue down the walkway. 

“It’s not like we’re asking him to make us invincible. What we take away from it is the reassurance that we’ve earned the god’s good will, and it makes the fire in the hearth feel a little warmer. It makes us happy to be at home, that’s all.” 

“I see,” Leo murmurs, with what appears to be some measure of understanding. “It’s certainly a nice sentiment.” 

“Sometimes sentiment is all we need,” Takumi replies. “Like I said, it’s different for every person and every god.” 

“Tell me more.” 

Takumi glances up, a little surprised by Leo’s enthusiasm and wondering if he’s just teasing again, but all he sees is genuine curiosity in the other’s expression. Well, that and the eerie red glow of his irises in the dark. Takumi raises his lantern up a little higher, casting its warm light over the statues as the two of them continue towards the center of the shrine. 

“We would be here for days if I told you about every god, but there are a couple of major ones everyone pays their respects to,” Takumi begins. “We’re big on farming, so the weather is pretty important to us. But we can’t control it, so we pray to the god of the skies to be merciful and send us signs of impending changes, so that we can be prepared.” 

“Well, that’s a familiar line of thinking,” Leo chimes in. “Praying for the mercy of the powers above.” 

“Really?” Takumi asks, interest piqued. Leo doesn’t often reveal things about his people without being prompted. “Do vampires worship gods?” 

“Actually, he’s less a god and more a demon king,” Leo says offhandedly. “And to be honest, I haven’t met anyone younger than my father who even so much as cares to utter his name anymore.” 

“Oh...so, I take if you’re not a man of faith.” 

“I prefer to place my faith in things of a more tangible nature.” Leo raises a hand and, from the center of his palm, summons a small flower with round, blue petals. 

“Whoa,” Takumi says softly. He’s seen Leo perform magic before, but he’s never witnessed something like this--creating life from pure magical energy is something humans typically aren’t capable of. “Can I…?” 

Leo pinches the stem of the flower and plucks it from his palm as one would if it had been grown in actual soil, but there are no roots at the bottom of the stem. He holds the flower out to Takumi, who receives it delicately between his fingers. 

“It’s actually alive,” Takumi says, still in awe as he touches the petals and feels how soft and cool they are. 

“Of course it is,” Leo says, sounding a little bit offended at the implication. “It will die soon, though. True organic magic requires seeds, so that the roots can be grown.” 

“So even magic has its limits.” 

“Naturally, otherwise we wouldn’t be much different from your gods, at least in terms of power.” 

“That’s a pretty bold assumption to make, but I see what you’re saying.” As gently as he can, Takumi tucks the stem of the flower into an open pocket on the outside of his pouch, lingering for a second to watch the petals flutter in the slow night breeze. 

“What are you doing?” Leo asks. 

“Hm? I’m going to take it home with me,” Takumi says. “Um, if that’s all right with you.” 

“But I already told you it’s going to die soon.” 

Reflexively, Takumi covers the flower with a hand, as if to shield it from Leo’s harsh predictions. “Well, it’s not dead yet.” 

Leo blinks, clearly confused by the gesture. “...You can do what you please with it, I suppose.” 

“I will.” Takumi turns and resumes down the walkway. “Come on. We’re almost there.” 

“And where exactly are we going?” 

“To the main shrine.” Takumi lifts his lantern once again to light the way, and sees the shadowy figure of the shrine in question just up ahead. 

“The one that was built to honor the god of good harvests?” 

“Uh-huh. He’s basically our main deity.” 

“Because humans sustain themselves on the crops they harvest, I presume.” 

“Well, yeah...our worshipping habits change as our priorities do. When we still hunted for survival, we worshipped the god of the hunt; when we were at war, we worshipped the god of victory, and so on,” Takumi explains. He pauses as the two of them ascend the short staircase up towards the main shrine and come to a stop in front of a small fountain. At the head of the fountain is a statue carved to resemble a dragon’s head, and from its mouth spills a slow trickle of clean water. 

“Hm...how quaint,” Leo remarks, obviously clueless as to what he’s looking at. 

“It’s a purification fountain,” Takumi explains. He picks up one of the ladles resting at the edge of the fountain and scoops some water up from the pool before gesturing at Leo to follow his example. 

“I think I’ll pass. ‘Purification’ is often synonymous with ‘hurts vampires very badly’ in human culture,” Leo says. 

Takumi scoffs. “This is just plain water from a nearby spring. The holy water hunters use against vampires is imbued with actual magic.” 

Leo narrows his eyes, skeptical. 

“Give me some credit, would you? I know we’re not exactly best friends, but I thought you would at least trust me enough to not try to kill you. Look.” Takumi pours some of the water onto his hand, taking a short moment to enjoy how crisp and cool it feels on his skin, then flicks it towards Leo without warning. 

“Hey!” Leo recoils instinctively, bringing his hands up to cover his face, but the water splashes harmlessly against his pale skin. 

“There, see? No burning flesh or anything, right?” 

“Ugh, you could have proven your point some other way,” Leo grumbles, wiping droplets of water from his cheeks and shaking it from his hands. 

“What, and miss the chance to see you squeal like a little girl?” 

“I did  _ not _ \--” Leo cuts himself off with visible effort, snapping his eyes shut just as they flare an ominous crimson. When he opens them again, they’ve returned to their usual dull, eerie glow, and his expression is one of carefully crafted stoicism. “I refuse to indulge you in your childish pranks.” 

Takumi snorts. “It’s called ‘having fun,’ and you would know what it was if you weren’t so uptight all the time.” 

“I just take myself seriously, that’s all. It’s something you ought to do as well, considering your station,” Leo retorts. 

At the mention of station, Takumi’s mood sours. “Whatever,” he mutters. “Let’s just get this over with.” 

Without waiting for Leo’s reply, Takumi turns and makes his way into the main shrine where the idol, a ten foot tall statue of a great dragon, coiled up and facing towards the sky with its maw opened in a silent roar, rests behind an offering box made of cherrywood. 

“So this is the god of good harvests?” Leo says as he comes to stand beside Takumi in front of the idol. 

Takumi nods and digs a few coins out of his pack. He hands half of them to Leo. “Gods are the manifestation of all the abstract and tangible things in life and nature. We’ve always believed that those manifestations took the form of dragons.” 

“I see...and in return for their guidance, you offer money?” Leo asks, inspecting the coins as if to ascertain their legitimacy. 

“The money is just a physical vehicle for the offering. The true currency is our reverence.” Takumi drops his coins between the wooden slats of the offering box, bows deeply twice, and brings his hands together in silent prayer. A short moment passes in which Leo has the grace not to interrupt, and then Takumi concludes his prayer with another deep bow and opens his eyes to see Leo staring up at the statue, looking uncertain. 

“What exactly am I supposed to pray for?” 

Takumi shrugs. “Whatever you want, technically. I just asked for a good harvest this year for the farmers,” he says. He runs his eyes over Leo’s ensemble: a deep purple blouse, black trousers, and his usual black traveling cloak. “You could ask for a better sense of fashion.” 

Leo shoots him a fierce glare. “I can’t quite see myself putting my heart into it.” 

That pulls a chuckle out of Takumi. “You don’t have to force yourself to pray. Here, let’s just pull a fortune for you instead.” 

“...A fortune?” 

“Come on.” Takumi leads Leo away from the offering box and brings him to a small table tucked into a corner of the shrine, only just within sight of the idol. 

Atop the table rests a basket woven from straw, with a small opening at the top. Behind the table is a large pine tree, its upper branches lined with green pine needles and its lower branches knotted with clusters of thin white paper.

“Stick your hand in.” 

Leo blinks. “Excuse me?” he asks blankly. 

Takumi rolls his eyes. “It’s really not that hard.” He reaches through the opening, rifles around within the basket for a moment, and retracts his hand. He opens it to reveal a small, rolled-up piece of parchment about as long as his finger. “Just pull one of these out from inside.” 

“Oh, that’s all?” 

“Well, what did you think I meant?” 

“Nothing in particular. You just need some serious work on your wording, that’s all,” Leo replies, and before Takumi can retort, he unceremoniously sticks his hand into the basket and retrieves his own little scroll. 

“So, what now?” 

“These fortunes hold predictions about our future,” Takumi explains. “All we have to do is read what they say and see if they come true.” 

“Humans really believe some writing on a random piece of parchment has the power to determine their fates?” Leo scoffs as he unrolls his fortune. 

“Just tell me what yours says, already,” Takumi grumbles, leaning over to look. 

Leo reads off the characters painted on his fortune. “‘Great blessing,’ and…?” 

“...’wishes and desires!’” Takumi finishes, looking up excitedly at Leo. “That’s pretty much the best fortune you can get. It means there’s a pretty high chance you’ll get something you really want sometime in the near future.” 

“Hm…” Leo hums, not looking quite as excited as Takumi expected him to. “That’s awfully vague, not that I expected much more.” 

“The point of these fortunes isn’t to tell you about your actual future, it’s just to point you in the right direction. Take yours, for example--” Takumi taps the fortune in Leo’s hand for emphasis. “If you happened to have some kind of goal you were working towards, you could choose to interpret this as a sign that your hard work is bound to pay off, and that should motivate you to keep going.” 

“That’s an awful lot to take away from something so small. What if my endeavors were to fail, in spite of what my fortunes told me?” 

Takumi rolls his fortune absently between his fingers. “We know that life isn’t perfect, and divine guidance can only take us so far. What we choose to do with the hand we’re dealt is what makes each of us our own person.” Takumi scowls up at Leo. “What’s with all the pointless questions, anyway? Do you really think humans are that dumb?” 

“Of course not,” Leo replies quickly, having the gall to look affronted at the insinuation. “If anything, I’ve grown to admire your incredibly strange habits and ideals.” 

Takumi’s scowl only deepens at that. “If you’re going to be dishing out backhanded compliments like that, at least make them more subtle.” 

Leo doesn’t bother hiding the amused gleam in his eye. “So, what does your fortune say?” 

With a huff, Takumi finally unravels his own fortune--only to deflate as he reads its contents. “A small curse with regards to illness. You’ve got to be kidding me.” 

“That doesn’t sound good,” Leo says, voice trembling with barely contained laughter. “What do you suppose it means?” 

Takumi sighs, too disheartened to be angry. Somehow, he feels like he’s just lost to Leo in a game he didn’t know they were playing. “It means I probably shouldn’t leave the house without a haori for a while.” 

“I’m going to assume that, despite your reaction, there are worse fortunes to be had,” Leo says, and this time when he laughs, Takumi doesn’t mind it so much. If anything, it almost seems as though Leo is trying to cheer him up. 

Takumi can’t help the exasperated smile that works its way onto his face. “Fair enough. You’re not wrong.” 

“So what do we do with these now?” 

“Well, I’m going to leave mine here, since I don’t need this bad luck following me home,” Takumi says. He reaches up and ties the fortune onto a low-hanging branch of the pine tree behind the table. 

“Then I suppose that means I ought to keep mine close by,” Leo guesses. 

“Uh-huh. Usually you would keep it on you until the fortune comes to pass.” 

“I see. That sounds simple enough.” Leo rifles around beneath his cloak for a moment before pulling out a small velvet drawstring pouch. “It ought to be safe in here.” 

Takumi blinks as he watches Leo drop the fortune into the pouch. “You just had that?” 

“There are many rare materials for spell casting to be found in the area that separates our homes from one another. I pick some up every once in a while on my way here and back,” Leo explains. “I need to store them somewhere when I find them, don’t I?” 

“Um, yeah, but I mean...you’re always pulling stuff out of your cloak or putting entire books and things in there. Where exactly does it all go?” 

“Isn’t it obvious?” Leo lifts the edge of his cloak to expose the underside of it, on which several magical, dully-glowing runes are inscribed. He points to the largest one in the center. “These are my wings…” Then, he points towards a small, circular rune closer to the edge. “...and this rune transports items to a pocket dimension where I can store or retrieve them at will.” 

“Oh,” Takumi says, feeling his irritation at Leo’s condescending attitude somewhat outshine his sense of wonder at the revelation. “Right. So obvious, silly me.” 

“Well, you didn’t think I was just sticking things under my cloak, right? How exactly is that supposed to work?” 

“I don’t know! That’s why I asked you!” 

Leo lets out an exaggerated, long-suffering sigh like a parent dealing with a troublesome child. “Now that we’ve cleared that up, are we done here, or do you have more to show me?” 

“Er...that’s pretty much it, I guess.” Takumi stifles a yawn before continuing. “Either way, it’s really late now and I need to head home before everyone wakes up.” 

Leo looks up towards the sky, at the barely-visible blue lining on the dark horizon. “I didn’t realize how much time had passed.” 

“Your family’s probably going to notice you’re missing soon. Do you know the way home from here?” 

The short, awkward beat of silence that follows tells Takumi all he needs to know. 

He sighs. “There should be a limit to how pathetic a man’s sense of direction can be.” 

“I’m not-! I just confuse certain landmarks with each other when I’m in an unfamiliar place,” Leo insists. 

“And what’s your excuse for the the way you always ‘confuse’ the inside of your shirt with the outside of it?” Takumi retorts with a snicker. 

Leo’s face glows nearly as red as his eyes. “Are we going back to the manor, or shall I grant your family the grave misfortune of finding the dried-out husk of your body here tomorrow?” 

Takumi puts his hands up in surrender. “All right, let’s go. Come on.” 

Leaving the idol of the god of good harvests behind, the two of them make their way out of the shrine. They walk in silence for a while, but Takumi notices the way Leo studies the statues of the lesser gods as they pass they by. 

Eventually, Leo asks, “Have you been coming to this shrine to pray all your life?” 

“Pretty much. I came a lot more as a kid, though.” Takumi cocks an eyebrow. “Where’s this coming from?” 

“I’m just curious, that’s all,” Leo says. “What did you pray for? As a child, I mean.” 

Takumi shrugs. “All kinds of things. Mostly dumb stuff.” 

“Do share.” 

“So you can make fun of me? No thanks.” 

“I won’t laugh at you. I just want to know.” 

Takumi frowns, considering his options for a moment before giving in. “It really wasn’t anything interesting. Sometimes all I cared to ask for was to have good weather the next day, or my favorite food for my next meal.” 

“And other times?” Leo prompts, almost as if he can sense that Takumi is holding back. 

Takumi fidgets with the sleeve of his kimono. This isn’t something he’s ever talked to anyone about before. “Well back then, I...I spent a lot of time praying to the gods to give me more friends.” 

Takumi doesn’t look at Leo, but the silence that ensues is fairly telling. 

He sighs. “Just go ahead and laugh.” 

“You haven’t said anything to warrant such a response,” Leo replies. “Why do you always assume I’m going to make fun of you?”

Takumi shrugs at that, resigned. It’s late and cold--he just wants to go home at this point. What made him think this would be a good idea? 

But then: “I understand how you must have felt,” Leo says quietly. There is a subtle but distinct trace of sympathy in his tone that Takumi has never heard before. 

Takumi looks at Leo and sees that the other is staring straight ahead, his expression distant. “What do you mean?” 

“Ever since the Crusades, my family has been constantly on the move. We never stayed in one place for long, and even when we met another cluster, we would end up competing for shelter and resources, sometimes to the point of taking violent action against each other,” Leo says. “I’ve only ever had my family. I love them, but I’ve always been curious about what it feels like to have a real friend.” 

Takumi’s heart sinks. “Oh...I didn’t know. I’m sorry.” 

“It’s all right. I suppose we’ve finally found something we have in common.” 

Takumi pulls his kimono tighter around himself to block out the bitterly cold night breeze. He wishes he’d brought a haori. “I’ve been surrounded by people since the day I was born--siblings, tutors, retainers…There are people in my life I consider friends. They’re nice and I care about them a lot, but they’re always going to see me as a hunter before anything else. I’ve never really had the time to spend with them to really connect with them.” 

“That sounds more like a nobleman’s life than a hunter’s.” 

“The two are pretty much the same thing to the people of Shirasagi,” Takumi says. “I’ve never hunted anything more than wild game, but people still call me a vampire hunter. I’m pretty sure my dad hasn’t picked up his sword in decades, but the city council is convinced all of Shirasagi would crumble overnight if he wasn’t there to protect and lead them.” 

“...I didn’t realize how much pressure your family was under.” 

“It’s been like this for a couple of generations now, so we’re basically used to it now.” Takumi comes to a stop a few meters from the wall enclosing Shirasagi Manor’s back courtyard. “We should both head home before we’re missed. You definitely know the way back from here, don’t you?” 

Leo scowls. “Yes, I do, thank you.” Then, he hesitates. “Before I go, I wanted to…” 

“You can tell me next time,” Takumi says through a yawn. “I’m so tired I feel like I’m going to pass out.” 

“Oh. Well, goodnight then,” Leo says. 

“Goodnight,” Takumi replies, and if he spots a hint of remorse on Leo’s face as the other takes off into the night, well--that’s something they’ll have to deal with in the future. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as you guys can probably tell, the mythical/religious references here are all taken from Japanese lore, with some minor creative liberties. thanks for reading!


	6. Lesson 6: Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this one's a little late. i'll have the next one out on time. 
> 
> enjoy!

Castle Krakenburg is quiet when Leo arrives, just as dawn breaks. Its stone walls, layered tightly with cinderblock and mortar, and its wide, winding halls make it feel more like a fortress than a home, but home it has been to Leo and his family for the past several years, and surely it must have been home to someone else before them. Once you've found your way around the cold, you get used to the rest of it fairly quickly. Leo really doesn't really care where he lives as long as he and his family are safe and together.

He finds everyone in the dining hall this morning, gathered around their small round dining table. Elise is the first to notice him walk in, and she bounds out of her seat to greet him.

"Leo! We haven't seen you all night!"

Leo resists the urge to avert his gaze. "I've been around."

"Holed up in the library again, dear?" Camilla asks. "I would have come to get you for supper, but I thought maybe you didn't want to be interrupted."

"It's fine. I'm here now." Leo walks with Elise back to the table and takes a seat between her and Xander.

"Reading is a fine pastime, Leo, but try not to get too lost in it," Xander says, thought not unkindly. "Remember that you have other responsibilities, as well."

"I know, Xander."

Camilla leans across the table, places a goblet in front of Leo, and raises a large silver pitcher. "We started without you, but there's still plenty left. Here." She tilts the pitcher, and a familiar dark liquid flows into Leo's goblet.

Leo thanks Camilla with a nod, then raises his goblet. He smells iron, and underneath that, something richer. "What is this?"

"Wild boar, as fresh as it gets. Xander caught it just an hour ago," Camilla replies.

"Aw man, you should have been there to see it!" Elise chirps. "Xander came in through the door, and he was just dragging this huge boar behind him, it was twice my size!"

"Apparently they live high up on the mountain, near the peak. We've never been that high up before, and I got curious as to what we could find there," Xander explains. "It might benefit us to start exploring the area more, especially since the humans never go so far up the mountain."

"…Yes, it would be best to avoid any accidental encounters," Leo agrees, hoping nobody notices the way his fingers twitch slightly around his goblet as he says it.

"You ought to join me on the hunt more often, Leo," Xander says. "It doesn't hurt to keep your fangs sharp, so to speak."

"I think hunting is more your and Camilla's field," Leo says.

"Yeah, and reading the night away in some dark corner of the library is Leo's!" Elise puts in.

Leo scowls. "Just because we have to live the rest of our lives in hiding, it doesn't mean we should neglect our education."

"It won't be for the rest of our lives," Xander says, though Leo isn't sure where the confidence in his voice comes from.

Rather than arguing, because he is all too familiar with where that line of conversation leads, he stands from his seat from his seat and raises his goblet slightly. "I think I'll take this out to the garden and get some fresh air. Thank you for this, Xander."

"Oh--make sure you don't stay up too late," Camilla says, and Leo merely nods in reply as he makes his way out of the dining room and towards the center of the castle. A set of heavy double doors on the bottom floor of the castle lead out to the spacious courtyard in the center of the castle, encircled by its walls. When Leo and his family had first arrived, the courtyard had been little more than a patch of parched dirt, but that was nothing a bit of magic couldn't fix.

Now, the courtyard is filled with flowers, shrubs, and most importantly, fruit trees. Finding food isn't difficult--there are animals to be poached no matter where they go--but that doesn't necessarily mean it's easy, either. Animals are far more difficult to hunt than humans are (or so Xander and Camilla tell him), so having something to fall back on doesn't hurt. Many vampires consider fruits to be "human food," and thus tend to avoid it for fear of upsetting their stomachs, Leo and his family have found that the sugars in them are easy to digest when consumed in fairly small quantities.

Leo places his goblet down on a stone bench and kneels down to examine a patch of tomato plants. A bounty of fruits hang from the short vines, all plump and vibrantly colored, and Leo can't help but smile slightly at the sight of them. He'd harvested the seeds of this particular patch on the day he'd first met Takumi. That was months ago, although it feels like but the blink of an eye to him. Perhaps it's because they see so little of each other.

Leo places a hand on the soil and murmurs a quiet incantation. Power surges through his hand and into the soil, and the leaves of the plants glow softly with the energy of the sun, despite its absence. When the glow dies down, there is no visible change in the plants, but Leo knows they will continue to grow well and that is enough to satisfy him.

With a sigh, he leans away from the soil to sit up on the bench, looks up towards the sky through the tiny opening at the top of the castle, and sips boar's blood as he watches the sun rise.

-:-

Leo wakes early the next evening, and the first thing he sees when he rolls over in his bed is the fortune he had pulled from the box at the shrine, rolled up and sitting atop the tiny velvet pouch he'd carried it in. He had opened it up to read it again before going to sleep that morning, and pondered it for a moment. Takumi had told him it meant he would soon be granted something he wanted, but when he thinks about it Leo finds that there isn't really anything in particular that he desires terribly at the moment.

Leo pushes himself out of bed, shaking off the heaviness of sleep as best he can by stretching himself out as he gets to his feet. He peeks through the blackout curtains over the window next to his bed to see the sun just beginning to set over the horizon, red-orange bleeding into the sky above the fields to the west. For some reason, he feels compelled to glance over towards the fortune again.

Great blessings, Takumi had said with an almost childlike excitement, and had seemed so downcast to read his own ill fortune. He'd been in rather low spirits towards the end of the night, and upon self-reflection Leo can't help but feel bad for his part in it. He hadn't expected Takumi to take his comments about his immaturity to heart, especially since Leo hadn't meant them sincerely.

It's true that Takumi can be childish; he's easily amused, excitable, and--underneath the thin veneer of overconfidence that he maintains--painfully insecure about almost too many things to name. But Leo can also see that he feels the weight of his family's prestige and responsibilities every day, how much time and effort he puts into his studies and duties to the people in order to live up to their expectations; he recognizes it because he sees shadows of it in his elder siblings' faces. His family was royalty, once.

Leo sighs and gently rolls the fortune back up before placing it into the velvet pouch. He considers leaving it in his room for safekeeping before changing his mind and tucking it into the breast pocket of his shirt to keep it close. Then, he pushes open his window and takes off into the darkening sky.

-:-

Takumi's room is dark when Leo arrives at Shirasagi Manor just past sundown, but his window is unlocked, so Leo lets himself in. To his surprise, he finds that Takumi is already asleep in bed, despite the fact that Leo can still hear the bustle of activity on the lower floors of the manor. He knows Takumi wasn't expecting him, but he had no idea the other slept so early in the evening.

Leo quietly kneels down next to Takumi's futon and reaches out to wake him, but then he pauses. Takumi's cheeks are blotched with an intense blush, and a thin sheen of sweat covers his forehead. His breathing is loud and labored, and he gnaws on his bottom lip even in his sleep, as if in the midst of an unpleasant dream. Leo has never watched a human sleep before, but he's fairly certain this is not normal.

Unsure of what to do, Leo acts on instinct and shakes Takumi awake.

Takumi comes to with a quiet groan that sounds like it only barely squeezed its way out of him and, without opening his eyes, tries to shrug Leo's hand off his shoulder.

"Takumi," Leo murmurs. "It's me."

Takumi pries his eyes open with all the effort and grit of a man trying to push open a door with rusted hinges, but he manages it eventually and squints up at Leo, blinking as he tries to process what's happening.

"Ugh…Leo? What are you doing here?" His voice is scratchy and so low that Leo hardly even recognizes it.

"I came to see you. Are you all right? You look terrible."

"It's nothing. I caught a cold last night at the shrine." Takumi lets out a sigh that turns into hoarse, dry cough, and reaches up to rub weakly at his temples. "Seriously, what are you doing here? My family is still awake."

"I needed to talk to you about something," Leo says. "I didn't know humans were so sensitive to the weather. How do you survive the winter?"

"Barely," Takumi replies, voice raspy. "Can't whatever you wanted to discuss wait until our next meeting? I'm not in the greatest condition at the moment."

"No. Well, I mean…" Leo clears his throat awkwardly. "I'll leave soon, I just…wanted to apologize."

Takumi frowns at that and, with what looks to be some measure of difficulty, pushes himself up into a sitting position. "Apologize? What did you do?"

"It's less what I did and more what I said," Leo confesses. "I made a remark yesterday about your station…"

Takumi blinks at him for a second, as if struggling to recall the incident Leo is referring to, and then he scoffs. "What, that's all? Jeez, you actually had me worried there for a moment."

Leo's eyes widen. Of all the ways he was expecting Takumi to react, this isn't one of them. "What do you mean?"

"You're talking about how you called me childish, or whatever, right? It's fine. You're not the first one who's said that to me," Takumi says with a shrug that he tries to pass off as nonchalant, but he glances away as he does it, and Leo doesn't miss the downcast expression he tries to hide.

"That doesn't make it any less wrong," Leo insists. "I didn't mean it when I said that, Takumi."

At that, Takumi rolls his eyes. "Yeah, you did. It's really not that hard to tell what you think of me, Leo."

Despite himself, Leo bristles. "Oh, really? And just what do I think of you?"

Takumi glances up at him, and there is a hint of apprehension in his expression, almost as if he is afraid to answer. Then, he merely sighs and rolls over on his futon, turning his back to Leo. "The same thing everyone else does. I'm just some spoiled kid riding on my family's prestige when I can't even live up to any of the responsibility that comes with it." 

Leo struggles to find the right words to say to that. "I didn't know that was what the people thought of you. I was under the impression that they admired you."

"They admire my family, not me." Takumi shifts slightly, as though he's uncomfortable. "Though I guess it's not really everyone who...I just hear people talking, sometimes. Members of the council, or people close to the family. They tell my parents that they're 'worried' for me and my siblings, but it's not for our sakes. It's only ever for their own." 

"The city of Shirasagi relies too heavily upon you and your family," Leo says, remembering the things Takumi had told him before. 

"Everything here is built on this old, pointless fear," Takumi says. "We have to do everything in our power to protect them, always, from a threat that doesn't even exist anymore. What's the point in that?" 

"I can see how a view such as yours might be taken as apathetic, or even rebellious. And you say that your siblings have been chastised for it as well?" 

"Even my parents feel the same way, except they just don't show it. My dad does everything the city tells him to just to keep them happy, and my brother does everything my dad tells him to because he doesn't want to disappoint him. We've been stuck like this for generations now." 

For the next several minutes, Leo is at a loss for words. He simply stares at Takumi as he thinks, watching the other's figure rise and fall beneath the sheets of his futon. Takumi looks so fragile like this, dressed in a simple, thin yukata, with his hair, usually so neatly tied up, now woven into a loose, haphazard-looking braid. Then, "I used to think the Nohrians were the only ones still fighting a war." 

"It's funny, we grew up being told that the fighting was over and that we'd won, but they never really let us put our guards down," Takumi replies. "I don't know if we got used to it or if we just got used to how exhausting it is." 

"Yet you still let me in, every time," Leo remarks. "I don't think I've ever really properly thanked you for this. And I wish I could help you somehow now."  

Takumi doesn't respond at first, nor does he turn back around to look at Leo. He merely lies there on his futon, facing the wall for a while, until he says, "You don't have to keep pretending to care, you know. I know you have no intention of being my friend. I'm fine with that." He sounds exhausted, his voice giving out at the end of his sentence, and Leo can tell the illness is only a part of the reason why.

"I am your friend," Leo says, before taking a second to backtrack. "At least, I would like to be." 

Takumi curls into himself, burrowing into his sheets as if to hide himself away. "Sorry," is all he says. 

"It wasn't my intention to keep you from your rest," Leo says, feeling a pang of sympathy for Takumi. 

"Could have fooled me," is Takumi's reply, voice muffled against his bedsheets.

"I'll let you get back to sleep, but…do you mind if I stay a while? I won't leave the room; I merely noticed that you'd added some new books to your shelf…"

Takumi responds with silence at first, and Leo wonders if he's already fallen asleep--or is simply ignoring him. But then, "Take whatever you want. Just do it quietly."

"Thank you," Leo says and, unexpectedly, feels relieved that Takumi hadn't asked him to leave. "I suppose I ought to bid you goodnight, then, so that you can get some rest."

"Mm."

The room falls into silence, then, but Leo finds it difficult to leave Takumi's side at first. He stays seated beside the futon, listening to the sound of Takumi's breathing in an almost trance-like state. It doesn't take long for the rhythm to even out, the line of his shoulders relaxing as he drifts off into a fitful slumber.

Leo isn't sure just how long he stays like that, but eventually he brings himself to rise to his feet, and he finds himself in front of Takumi's bookshelf, browsing the titles the other had added to the collection since the last time Leo visited. Some of them are anthologies and textbooks, no doubt assigned to him by his tutors, and none of them catch Leo's eye. However, he does spot some philosophical texts, which might lead to some productive discussions in the future, and a few pieces of fiction.

Leo picks out a collection of short stories, held together by a crisp leather binding, and flips through the first several works. Most of them seem to revolve around Hoshidan gods and the people's relationship with them; it's interesting, seeing depictions of humans interacting directly with their gods. He wonders if any humans now could claim to have met a god in their lifetime.

Leo closes the book carefully. This one will do for some light reading; he admits he has been curious to learn more about the gods since the visit to the shrine. Leo tucks the book away to take home, but as he prepares to leave, a sudden wracking cough bursts out of Takumi, making Leo jump.

"…Takumi?" Leo says carefully once the fit subsides, but there is no reply. He glances over and sees that Takumi is still asleep, brow furrowed once again and breathing rattled. He can't help but pity the other, and as the thought crosses his mind he also feels a twinge of guilt twisting in the pit of his stomach. Perhaps it was his fault this happened, for it had been at his request that Takumi took him to the shrine on such a cold night.

Leo kneels down once again at Takumis side and, after a brief moment of hesitation, reaches down and very gently places a hand atop his forehead.

They both flinch at the same time--Leo because Takumi's skin is so hot against his, and Takumi surely because Leo's is equally as frigid.

"I'm sorry," Leo apologizes quietly. Takumi groans softly, his voice weak, but still doesn't wake. Leo wonders how humans can tolerate letting themselves be so vulnerable for such long periods of time. Even while asleep, Leo is always alert to the environment around him.

He reaches down again, this time only to brush Takumi's bangs back from his face. "I'm sorry for before, too. About what I said." Of course, no reaction. Leo sighs and drops his hand. "This would be much more effective if you were actually awake, but…I wanted you to know that I do see you as my friend and that I care about you. You've become very dear to me in a way that I can't quite explain yet."

Leo pauses then as something catches his ear. The subtle creak of the manor's stairs drifts up into the room as someone makes their way up towards the room--someone coming to check on Takumi, perhaps.

"I ought to go now. I hope you'll get well soon so that we can see each other again," Leo whispers and, because the urge strikes him, he leans down and places a feather-light kiss atop Takumi's forehead, careful not to wake him. Leo stands then, and as he does he notices something familiar resting on the reading desk near the window. The tiny blue flower Leo had conjured the previous day sits inside a glass vase, its petals wilting but still attached. He knows Takumi had mentioned something about taking it home to keep, but he hadn't expected him to still have it.

Leo reaches out, touches a finger to the stem, and pours more energy into the flower. He watches as it perks up, its petals unfurling like wings, and allows himself a tiny, satisfactory smile before darting out the window and taking off into the sky just as the door to Takumi's room opens behind him.

Leo hesitates for a second, hovering near the window, just out of sight, before peering inside out of curiosity.

A young human girl has entered the room, clutching a large pail of water to her chest. Her bobbed hair has a rosy hue, but Leo can easily see a strong resemblance to Takumi in the shape of her face and in the color of her eyes. Takumi has told Leo about his siblings before--this must be Sakura, the youngest.

Sakura places the pail down next to her as she sits down at Takumi's side and dips a small towel into the water.

"Good evening," she says softly as she wrings the towel out and dabs it across Takumi's forehead. "How are you feeling?"

Takumi squirms a bit under her attentions before pulling his eyes open. "I thought I told you to--oh…Sakura?"

Sakura giggles softly. "Who were you expecting?"

"Um…no one. I'm just a little dizzy, that's all," Takumi says hastily, and Leo sees him glance around the room. He spots the flower and his gaze moves out the open window, but Leo stays hidden. Nevertheless, Takumi smiles, and Leo can't help but feel as though the smile is for him.

Fondness swells in Leo's chest, and it stays there as he makes his way home, keeping the image of Takumi's warm smile in his mind through that night and the night after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was excited to introduce leo's family in this chapter. i do have a soft spot for the nohrian royals. i also love the old 'taking care of the sick' trope, even if leo did absolutely nothing to help takumi get better. thanks for reading!


	7. Lesson 7: A History (Redux)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one's a little long and backstory-heavy. the opening scenario and some of what follows are adapted from [this comic](http://geminid.tumblr.com/post/166350827781/this-is-a-comic-12-pages-about-a-stupid-3am)
> 
> enjoy!

Autumn comes quietly and settles in on the city of Shirasagi. Bright, sweltering days gradually but noticeably give way to cooler ones, filled with clean breezes and yellowing leaves. As shorter days herald the coming of winter, Takumi finds himself spending as much time as he can in the manor's shooting range.

The city's autumn festival is coming soon, to celebrate the end of the season and mark the beginning of preparations for winter, and it will open with an archery contest amongst the city's best hunters, including a representative from the head hunter's family.

Takumi has been competing on his family's behalf for the past several years, now. Before him, it was his mother Mikoto who competed, and her skills with the bow were well known throughout the city. Takumi never loses. It's not in his nature to allow himself the luxury of failure, but he knows he's still far from reaching her level of skill, if it's even possible for him to achieve at all. 

So he practices at every opportunity he gets, and tries not to get caught up asking himself questions about who exactly he's trying to impress, and whether or not it's actually worth it. 

Takumi inhales deeply and nocks an arrow, gaze focused intensely on the target on the other side of the field. He centers himself, draws the bowstring back, and holds it there for a moment, ensuring one last time that his aim is sure. Then--

"Takumi?" 

He jumps at the sudden interruption, losing his grip on the bowstring and sending the arrow careening across the field, where it misses the entire target by at least several feet before falling limply onto the dirt beyond. He lets out a noise of frustration and immediately turns around to admonish whichever foolish member of the castle staff had come to interrupt him. 

"How many times have I told you not to--wait... _Leo?_ " 

A familiar dark figure stands in the shade of the manor's patio several meters back, watching him with an amused twinkle in his eye. "Is that what passes for good archery among humans?" 

"You distracted me!" Takumi hastily glances around to confirm that the two of them are alone before dropping his bow off at the weapons rack and jogging over towards the patio. 

"Don't move so quickly!" Leo exclaims, clutching his cloak around him like a shield and retreating until his back bumps the wall. His cheeks turn pink with indignation. "You know I can't track you visually in such bright light."

"Says the one who loves to sneak up on me all the time in the dark," Takumi mutters. "What are you even doing here? It's dangerous for you to be out in the open in the middle of the day." 

"It's the afternoon, actually, and going on evening," Leo says. "Besides, I made sure that there would be no one around before I came here." 

"That doesn't explain why you even came in the first place." 

"There's nothing wrong, if that's what you're asking. I merely felt like paying you a visit," Leo says. "I've finished the history text you lent me, so I came to return it." 

"And you couldn't wait until tonight to do that?" 

"I thought you might be grateful I arrived early so that you wouldn't be deprived of a restful sleep tonight," Leo huffs, looking almost disappointed. 

"Oh...well, that's really nice of you," Takumi replies a little awkwardly, before something occurs to him. "Wait, are you still feeling guilty about how I got sick at the shrine last month?" 

"I don't feel guilty, I only felt that we were in the stage of our relationship where I owed you that courtesy," Leo insists. "Also, I had some thoughts on the assertions made in this history text and it was keeping me up, so I figured I may as well do something productive about it anyway. Do you have time for a spot of tea and a discussion regarding the horrible ineptitude of Hoshidan historians?" 

At that, Takumi lets out a light chuckle. "I should have figured it was about something like that. Come on, let's head inside." 

 -:-

Leo rolls onto his side, lets out a small sigh, and then rolls over onto his other side. "You know, the myth that vampires sleep in coffins is entirely untrue." 

"Mhm," Takumi hums, not looking up from his book on hunting bow maintenance. "You've told me this before." 

They had debated for about an hour or so before deciding to let it go without reaching a consensus (they rarely ever did), and it was as the sun started burning bright oranges and pinks over the horizon that Leo declared he was getting drowsy. Yet it seems that at the moment, he is still having difficulties settling into sleep, much to Takumi's dismay.

"I only meant that humans have this misconception about how we're all terrible and filthy and live in graveyards or trees. I have an actual bed, you know." 

Takumi rolls his eyes. "Get to the point." 

"This futon is terrible," Leo says flatly. "It's too hard, and this thing you've put under my head is closer to a log than a pillow." 

"It's good for your neck." 

"My neck does best when my head is resting on high quality silk, preferably stuffed with genuine goose down." 

Takumi sighs. "If you were just going to sleep anyway, you might as well have stayed home." 

"We still have a debate to finish. My body is simply weary from baking under all that horrid sunlight today, and my eyes sting." 

"So sorry, but there's not much more I can do for you at this point," Takumi says with an utter lack of sincerity. "Also, that futon is the best one in the manor." 

"This is just your futon." 

"Exactly." 

"You're impossible." 

Takumi laughs softly and puts his book down. He scoots over towards the futon. "Come here." He lifts Leo's head and lays it down on his lap. "There, better?" 

Leo answers with complete silence. 

Instantly, Takumi breaks out into a cold sweat. Should he not have done that? He hadn't meant it as an intimate gesture, only as--as a friendly offering, yes. But perhaps it had upset Leo. Takumi's head spins with panic, and he has half a mind to shove Leo's head off his lap and laugh it off as a joke. But then--

"This is fine," Leo says quietly, and his weight settles onto Takumi as he relaxes. 

"Oh." Takumi's voice cracks, and he clears his throat hastily. "Good, because I was getting tired of hearing you complain." 

"It isn't a complaint if it's valid." 

"Yeah, right. Someone could spin you a blanket out of gold and you'd still find something to be unhappy about." 

"What good would a blanket made of gold do me?" 

Takumi snorts. "It was just an example, Leo. Go to sleep already, would you? I have to finish reading this book by tomorrow." 

Leo glances up and scans the title of the book as Takumi picks it up again. "You've been training a lot more, lately." 

"Yeah, I've got a big competition coming up...wait, how did you know that?" 

"I've seen you, of course. You're out in that training field just about every day. It's quite admirable, really." 

"Wait, don't tell me you've been coming out to the city every single day." 

Leo's eyebrows go up, and he looks at Takumi like he's an idiot. "Don't be absurd. I've been using a simple scrying spell. It's such basic magic even human diviners can use it." 

Takumi's jaw drops. "You've been spying on me?" 

"It's pronounced 'scrying-'"

"I know what a scrying spell is! Leo, that's...that's a little strange, don't you think?" 

"Why? I only check up on you from time to time. I get curious about what you do during the day," Leo says, unfazed by Takumi's indignation. "Besides, I've recently come to understand just how fragile humans are. What am I to do if something befalls you and I'm left without my only human friend and guide?" 

"Well..." Somehow, Takumi can't bring himself to stay angry. "That's really nice, but seriously...that was just a cold. I'm pretty sure the most danger I'm ever in is when I'm around you." 

"...Oh." 

Takumi's eyes go wide as he watches Leo turn his head away, his face falling into a blank, unreadable expression. "Wait, that's not what I meant. Leo, I'm sorry." 

Leo answers once again with silence, and Takumi is surprised (but also grateful) that he doesn't elect to simply leave. 

Takumi sighs softly and wracks his brain for a way to make this right, but he really isn't sure what to say. Leo stays quiet beneath him, the sound of his slow, shallow breaths filling the silence between them. That was one of the first things Takumi had noticed about Leo--his breathing. When they'd first met, they spent most of their time simply reading next to each other in Takumi's room, with Leo absorbing as much as he could from the texts he borrowed. Takumi would always notice in the quiet that Leo breathed at an incredibly slow pace, as if he was barely alive. Even now, thinking about it makes Takumi want to put his ear to Leo's chest and to hear how his heart beats. 

Absently, Takumi reaches down and runs a hand through Leo's hair. It's even softer than he imagined, which is saying something considering how smooth and meticulously styled it always looks. He gets lost in the motion of it for a short moment, and notices a little too late that Leo has gone stiff beneath him. 

"What are you doing?" Leo demands softly, though he doesn't attempt to move away. 

Takumi freezes, flustered. "Sorry, I...Sakura does that for me when I'm feeling down, so I thought..." 

Leo lets out a quiet huff. "I can never quite figure you out," he murmurs, his cheek brushing against Takumi's leg as he talks. "I used to think humans were such simple creatures." 

"...Do you really mean it when you call me your friend?" 

"Have you ever heard me joke about anything?" Leo retorts. "Although I suppose you've made it quite clear that the sentiment isn't mutual." 

"That's not true! I just always thought that you would only ever see me as something inferior, as a human," Takumi says. "I guess I just let myself get caught up in old misconceptions sometimes." 

"Well, biologically speaking, you are inferior to me in a number of ways," Leo reassures him. "But you stand above me in others, and I've grown to respect you for that. Perhaps it was presumptuous of me to expect the same from you." 

Takumi bites his lip, feeling his face heat up with embarrassment. He feels like a child, always having to reprimand himself for saying stupid things or making the wrong moves. 

"Sorry," he mutters, because it's the best he can manage at the moment. 

"Don't worry yourself about it," Leo says, though it sounds more dismissive than forgiving. 

Takumi lifts his hand away from Leo's head and reaches up to fidget briefly with his own hair. "You know, I--I owe you a lot. Meeting you changed the way I thought about all the things I took for granted growing up." 

"...That's true for me, as well," Leo replies quietly. 

"Um, can I ask you something?" 

"Feel free." 

"You said before that your family used to travel a lot," Takumi says. "How did you end up here?" 

Leo turns to look up at Takumi. "Where is this coming from?" 

"I can't help but feel like it was a real stroke of luck that we happened to meet, and it made me curious." Takumi hesitates for a second, sensing a strange mood in the air. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." 

Leo doesn't reply for several seconds, staring up past Takumi towards the ceiling as he appears to contemplate something. Then, "It's all right. It's just that I've never talked to anyone about this before. I'm not sure where to start." 

"How about at the beginning?" Takumi suggests. "Where did your family live before the Crusades?" 

Leo meets Takumi's eyes, and he seems to relax slightly, his expression softening. "We lived in the heart of the Nohrian Kingdom, in the city of Windmire," he says. 

Takumi's eyes widen; he recognizes the name. "Isn't that where the royal family lived? Were you...?" 

"Royalty? Yes. My father was the King of Nohr." 

Takumi's jaw drops. "You're a prince?" 

"You are, too, in all but name." 

"Leo, Shirasagi has less than a thousand people in it." 

"And Nohr no longer exists. I'd say that puts us at fairly equal standing." 

"...Right. Sorry." 

Leo shakes his head. "In truth, I don't remember much of my life in Windmire at all. I was hardly old enough to speak when the Second Crusades drove us out of the city." 

"Oh...I see. What happened?" 

"I personally don't recall any of this, but from what my siblings tell me my father took us and fled when the city was overrun with hunters. He lost his wife, my brother Xander's mother, during the sacking of the city," Leo says. "They tell me he was a kind man before that, but after Katerina's death he changed. The Kingdom of Nohr officially dissolved after the Second Crusades, and all of the nobility scattered to form and rule over their own clusters, including my family." 

"It must have difficult trying to start over after losing so much," Takumi murmurs.

Leo's gaze is distant, his eyes dark with melancholy. "It was a frightening time in my life, though I didn't fully understand what was happening. Following the Hoshidan Crusades, most of the Nohrian vampires were split into one of two factions: those who wanted to flee from Nohr and start anew elsewhere, and those who wanted stay and retake it. My father was desperate to have his kingdom back, and chose to gather what forces he could to rebel against the Hoshidans." 

Takumi frowns at that. "I've never read about any rebellions after the Crusades. I was taught that the Nohrians all quietly went into hiding." 

"That's because the rebellion never happened. The other clusters were afraid that the actions of the rebels would bring repercussions upon all of them, and they demanded that my father step down. When he refused, they began sabotaging his efforts, and eventually it devolved into full on attacks against his army." 

"Wait--the Nohrians were fighting against each other? But that's..." 

"Incredibly counterproductive? I know. It wasn't soon before other vampires were sneaking into our home to attack us directly. It was Xander and my elder sister Camilla who put an end to it after we lost our youngest brother in an accident. They begged our father to give up on the rebellion, and after a while he gave in. We've been running ever since." 

Leo looks up at Takumi as he finishes his story, but when Takumi doesn't say anything he raises his eyebrows. "What is it? Have I bored you into speechlessness?" 

"No, that's not it," Takumi says. "I-I just...never knew your family went through so much. I mean, I know the Crusades ruined everything for pretty much all of the Nohrian vampires..." 

"I'll admit I don't look favorably upon the years we spent running for our lives and having nowhere to call home," Leo says. "We never felt safe, no matter where we went. To make matters worse, our father was growing increasingly unstable--after losing his chance to lead the rebellion, he became more and more volatile. Every time we entered another cluster's territory, his first instinct was to attack them to steal their resources, whether or not they actually meant us harm in the first place."

"That's terrible," Takumi says. "I guess it's a good thing there aren't any other clusters around Shirasagi, then."  

"It is fortunate that we found this place in the end. These past several years have been the most peaceful years in our lives," Leo says, but then his expression falls slightly. "But my father has actually been dead for nearly thirty years now." 

Takumi's eyes widen. "I...I had no idea. I'm sorry." 

"He was killed during a conflict with another cluster's leader...I remember that night well. He commanded Xander and Camilla to fight at his side, while I was to stay home and look after Elise. But I was worried about my siblings, so I snuck out to watch." 

"That must have been a frightening experience. "

"In all honesty, it wasn't. As I said, I don't remember much of what I witnessed during the Crusades, but violence in general had become a familiar thing to me," Leo says. "My father and siblings in particular had always been very powerful, ruthless fighters. I watched as they took on an entire cluster of twenty or so other vampires. Even the leader was no match for my father." 

"Then how did he die?" 

"It was a hunter who killed him." Leo closes his eyes for a moment, as if in pain, but then he opens them again and continues on. "The noise of the battle had attracted a group of traveling hunters who happened to be nearby. They ambushed the remaining vampires towards the end of the battle, after they'd all grown weary from the fighting." 

"Your father was one of them." 

"Yes. His last words were to Xander and Camilla, ordering them to flee. As he turned to issue them, the hunters shot him in the back with arrows dipped in holy water." Leo sighs softly, eyelids fluttering as if they've grown heavy. "In the end, he still had some measure of love for us in his heart. I suppose at least that part of him is worth remembering." 

Takumi feels guilt well up in his chest. "So you lost both of your parents to hunters." 

"I lost both of my parents to senseless violence," Leo corrects him. "The Crusades were nothing more than a glorified series of massacres and I detest the humans who took part in it, yes. But they're long gone now, and it was my father's own hunger for vengeance and cruelty that brought about his end." 

Takumi is quiet for a while, absorbing and processing all of this. He never would have guessed by the way Leo carried himself on a regular basis that he was burdened by such a traumatic past. 

"You could have killed me the day we met," Takumi says quietly. "You knew I was a hunter." 

"And you could have told your family about me and had me and my siblings captured." 

"I guess it just didn't occur to me," Takumi murmurs. "I don't know why, but I didn't really see you as a threat." 

"It's probably because I was doing my best not to pose one." 

"Wasn't it a big risk to take, making your new home near a city full of vampire hunters?" 

"It was, yes, but it paid off in the end. It's quiet here, with plenty of resources, and we're the only cluster around." Leo smiles up at him, eyes warm. "And I suppose it doesn't hurt that I got to meet you, as well."  

Takumi rolls his eyes and fights the blush rising up his neck. "Yeah, maybe it was your charm that drew me in," he mutters flatly. 

When he looks back down, however, Leo's eyes are closed and a peaceful, somewhat content-looking expression rests on his face. 

"Whoa, you're not asleep already, are you?" 

"I would be if you'd have the grace not to disturb me." 

"Geez, you're like my grandfather. He would always fall right asleep after telling us some wild story about the Crusades." 

"Am I to assume you treated him with more respect and actually let him sleep?" 

Takumi chuckles. "Okay, okay. Sorry." And because it feels right, he begins stroking his fingers through Leo's hair again, hoping it will help soothe the other.  

Leo shifts slightly, but doesn't protest. Within a matter of moments, his breathing slows and evens out. 

Takumi continues the motion, mostly because he finds it comforting as well, and simply watches for a while. Leo is still as a corpse as he slumbers, and there is something morbidly amusing about it. For all that he claims he doesn't sleep in a coffin, he could certainly fit comfortably into one. Takumi will be sure to make fun of him for that later on. 

"Hey," Takumi says softly as a thought crosses his mind. "You are asleep this time, right?" 

There is no response. 

Slowly, Takumi leans down and puts his ear to Leo's chest. He waits for a couple of seconds, cheek pressed up against the silk fabric of the other's vest, straining to hear something. Then--

A slow, rhythmic series of low thumps. Takumi can't contain the delighted smile that spreads across his face as he listens to Leo's heartbeat. He can feel his own heart thudding rapidly in his chest from the proximity, and it must be at least several times faster than the other's. 

Deep down, a vague sense of unnerving settles somewhere with the reminder yet again that Leo is not human, but at the same time Takumi can't help but find a unique sort of excitement in finding these vastly different, yet somewhat similar qualities in each other.  

Takumi pulls away, careful not to jostle Leo. "I guess I should have said this while you were awake, but...thanks for trusting me. I hope this means you'll keep coming to see me." Then, he pulls the comforter up over Leo's shoulders. "Sweet dreams, Leo." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you guys liked learning a little more about leo and some of the worldbuilding! thanks for reading!!


	8. Lesson 8: Tradition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we are nearing the end...sincerest thanks to everyone who's been sticking with the story so far!! this scenario and some of the concepts about vampires is adapted from [this comic](http://geminid.tumblr.com/post/167301180191/another-comic-for-the-vampire-au-this-one-is-14) by geminid, with permission. 
> 
> enjoy!

Leo stands beneath a tree with broad, crisp orange leaves off the side of the busy main street in Shirasagi, and watches as the city's denizens celebrate the closing of autumn. The sun has long set, but the people ward off the darkness and the chill of the night with rows and rows of bright paper lanterns strewn across their rooftops and vendors' carts. Leo stares, dazzled and at the same time mildly intimidated by the fervor with which the participants move from booth to booth, indulging themselves with fried and grilled delicacies and whimsical festival games. 

Humans thrive so boldly, so shamelessly in the light. 

The sound of footsteps approaching pulls him from his observations and he turns, keeping his face concealed behind the collar of his cloak, but it is only Takumi. 

"There you are. I thought I'd never find you, geez," Takumi huffs, carrying a handful of what appears to be various grilled meat skewers and other foods Leo doesn't recognize. 

"You were the one who told me to meet you underneath the tree next to the main road," Leo says. 

"I meant the other tree--ugh, whatever. Guess it's my fault for not being more specific. Anyway, I got a bunch of stuff because I wasn't sure what you would want..." He holds up the food in offering. 

The smell of charcoal, grease, and salt fills the air between them, and Leo frowns as he puts a hand over his nose. 

Takumi mirrors his frown in response. "I'll eat whatever you don't want. Just pick something and try it." 

"Hm..." Leo reaches over and picks out some honey-colored confection held on a stick. "Is this candy?" 

"Oh, that's a candied apple. I...wasn't expecting you to pick that," Takumi says. "I even went out of the way to find some pig's blood sausages for you." 

Leo glances down into one of the little paper trays Takumi is holding and sees what appears to be little cylinders of minced meat and congealed blood wrapped in some sort of casing. "Most human foods make us sick, so it probably would only have worked if it was pure blood. I do appreciate the sentiment, though." 

"...But you can eat candy?" 

"We're fine with sugar. It tastes even better than blood to some of us, actually," Leo explains as he bites off a small piece of the candy apple's hard casing. It breaks like glass and tastes like honey as it melts on his tongue, pleasant and refreshing. "There are many vampires with very pronounced sweet tooths."  

Takumi's eyebrows go up and his expression softens. "That's...actually kind of cute." 

"You must finally be getting over your fear of vampires if you can say something like that," Leo says with a smile, which he regrets as soon as a piece of hard candy digs into the inside of his cheek. He grimaces. "Ah...I think I just cut the inside of my mouth." 

Takumi snickers. "You're supposed to eat those more carefully, O Mighty Vampire." 

"Stop laughing," Leo grumbles. He rubs on his sore cheek, but mostly to stop himself from smiling again. "I hope you forget to blow on hot food." 

"Well, I hate to disappoint you, but I never--" Takumi stops abruptly as several voices cut through the chatter of the festival. 

"Takumi!" 

"Young Master Takumi!" 

Takumi deflates. "Ugh, I didn't think they'd notice I was missing so soon." 

"Who is that? Shouldn't you respond?" 

"It's just the family's retainers. They get antsy if they don't see us for a while at crowded events like this--as if anything has ever happened." Takumi sighs and nudges Leo along. "Someone will distract them with something to do eventually. Come on, let's get out of here." 

"Are you sure it's a good idea to avoid them? You can't go back to the festival with me, anyway," Leo says, though he still follows as Takumi begins leading him away from the main street and towards the outskirts of the town.  

Takumi doesn't turn to look at him as he replies. "This might sound a little selfish, but...I was hoping I could just watch the fireworks with you this year." 

"Fireworks?" Leo remembers reading about those in a book. "That's a traditional Hoshidan craft, isn't it? They're used to ward off evil...like vampires." 

This time, Takumi gives Leo a reassuring smile. "That was a long time ago. It's just another festivity these days, so you don't have to worry. Come on, we're almost there." 

Takumi takes Leo through a path thick with shrubbery, and at the other side they come to the foot of a grassy hill. They make their way up quietly, and when they arrive at the top Leo is greeted with a striking view: the entire city of Shirasagi, dark but for a single glowing strip in the center, where the festival is taking place. 

The hill isn't very tall, and Leo can still make out the individual figures of the townspeople and hear the bustle of activity down below, but it's also far enough away that they've escaped the heat of the crowd's excitement and are instead greeted with the brisk night air. 

"I wasn't aware that there was a place like this in the city," Leo says. 

'Well, it's technically not in the city so most people don't really know about it. I found it once during a hunting trip." 

"A hunting trip? I didn't know that the wildlife in the area strayed so close to civilization." 

"Er--well, technically I wasn't actively hunting at the moment. I was a little--I mean, I was tracking a mark, and then..." 

"You got lost," Leo realizes, lips curling into a delighted smile. 

"Look, this was a few years ago, okay? Do you want to stay here and watch some fireworks or not?" Takumi demands, his cheeks reddening in a way that very much brings out the vibrancy of the embarrassment in his expression. It is delightful. 

"I didn't say I didn't like it here." Leo looks out over the city, at the sprawling streets and the simple, elegant architecture of the homes lining them. It makes him feel nostalgic for his own home in Windmire, though he hardly even remembers it. 

"Leo? Um, are you okay?" 

Leo blinks and tears his eyes away from the view to look at Takumi, who is staring at him with a concerned frown. "Sorry, I got distracted by...it's not important. But are you sure you don't want to head back down to the festival? The city only holds it once a year, right?" 

"Yeah, every year. I've seen it all, trust me. Missing it this once won't hurt." 

"What about all those games and such?" 

"Those are mostly for kids," Takumi says with a shrug. "And I've got plenty of food right here with me, since you're apparently only eating that." 

Leo looks down at the candied apple clutched in his hand, which he'd actually forgotten about in the past several minutes. He takes another bite of the hard candy and sits down next to Takumi on the grass. 

They share a moment of companionable silence, during which Leo mostly watches Takumi stuff various foods into his mouth, seemingly without stopping to breathe most of the time. He wonders if all humans eat like starved beasts, or if Takumi just happens to be particularly ravenous tonight. Leo, on the other hand, takes his time with the apple and lets his mind wander. 

"You know, I would have liked to watch you compete this morning." 

Takumi pauses with a skewer lifted halfway to his mouth. "What?" 

"You participated in an archery contest during the festival's opening, didn't you?" Leo asks. "You mentioned it the last time we spoke." 

"Uh, yeah. I do it every year," Takumi says, putting his food down as if he's lost his appetite. "It's not a big deal." 

Leo cocks an eyebrow. "Why? Did you lose?" 

"No, I won," Takumi says simply, his reply empty of the usual burning indignation Leo's teasing always evokes. "I win pretty much every year." 

"...Then why do you look so unhappy?" 

"I'm not. It's just not a big deal, like I said." 

"I always imagined you of all people would be one to take such hard-earned victories more seriously." 

Takumi's expression twists into a scowl, but instead of replying with some clever retort, he simply sighs. "Sorry, it's not that." 

"Then what is it?" Leo prompts, gently so as to not pressure Takumi. 

"I don't really know. I guess it just starts feeling more and more pointless with every year that passes," Takumi says. "I used to be happy that I was good at archery, but now it just seems like it's the only thing I'm good at." 

"We all have our strengths and our weaknesses," Leo puts in. 

"Yeah, well, it would be nice to have a strength in something a little less obsolete," Takumi scoffs. "The whole city practically worships me as a hunter, but they hardly think anything of me otherwise. They're all expecting me to stand next to my siblings as a leader to the people, but I don't actually know how to do that yet."  

"Takumi, the people of Shirasagi look up to you because they know you're a capable person," Leo says. 

Takumi glares at the ground. "That just means they'll be all the more disappointed when I end up letting them down." 

"I won't argue that you have a lot to learn, but you have time, too. You're a kind and clever person," Leo insists with as much earnesty as he can muster. It's been a while since he's talked to someone like this. "And you have things your siblings don't. I'm sure of it." 

Slowly, Takumi's troubled frown melts into a small, shy smile. "Well, I do have you." 

Leo's eyes widen at the quiet sincerity in the other's voice, but before he can reply, a loud, distant whistling sound cuts through the air. They both look up in time to see something bright streaking up towards the sky, just above the city. 

"It's starting!" Takumi gasps, jumping to his feet. "Come on!" 

Leo moves to follow suit just as a burst of light flashes across the sky. He flinches, closing his eyes instinctually and reaching out for something to steady himself as a resounding pop echoes in the light's wake. His hand brushes against something warm, and he grasps at it on instinct as he realizes what it is. Takumi stiffens, and Leo can hear the other's heart jump, the sound steady and resonant like a drum in his ears. It's even louder than the continuous whistling and snapping of the fireworks. 

"It's too bright," Leo says by way of explanation.

"Oh, right." Takumi opens his hand, and doesn't complain as Leo takes it into his grip. "Sorry." 

They walk slowly towards the edge of the hill, and there, Leo draws his gaze once again up towards the sky and watches as the fireworks bloom across the sky like flowers, so powerfully bright yet so fleeting. His eyes sting, but he ignores it, for he can't seem to tear them away. His siblings had told him once that staring directly into the sun could blind a vampire instantly; Leo imagines this is the closest he'll ever get to experiencing that without having to suffer such a fate. 

"It's beautiful," he murmurs. 

Takumi's hand tightens around his, and doesn't seem to mind the chill of Leo's skin. 

"I don't think I'll ever get tired of this," Takumi says. "I come here every year with my friends and family. It's something I always look forward to." 

Leo shivers slightly. The frigidness in his hands is starting to make him uncomfortable, but he's not sure what to do about it. "Yet you chose to see them with me this year." 

A final blaze of colorful light as an entire barrage of fireworks go off at once. Leo watches it for just a second, pink and blue and gold flaring across the black canvas of the night sky, before he finally has to look away, turning his head and shielding his vision with his cloak as his eyes sting with the heat of tears. 

His gaze falls instead on Takumi, who has also looked away from the fireworks to stare intensely at the ground, his face alight with all the colors flashing down on them and--underneath it all--a deep, vivid red that remains as the rest fades and all grows quiet atop the hill once again. 

"Um...I asked you to watch these fireworks with me because you're important to me," Takumi mumbles so quietly Leo can hardly hear him. "A-as a friend, I mean. Or something like that..." 

Leo raises his eyebrows. "Something like that...?" he echoes. 

"Yeah, uh--I have to go right now," Takumi says, abruptly dropping Leo's hand. "I mean, I'll be back, but my family's probably looking for me." 

"But--" 

"Just wait for me here, I'll be right back!" Without giving Leo a chance to inquire further, Takumi turns and dashes away like he's fleeing for his life. 

Leo sighs and sinks down onto the grass. Down below, he can see the festival's crowd beginning to disperse. The townspeople make their way off the main street and back to their homes as the celebrations come to a close and the night's chilling quiet begins to settle in. Absently, he picks a few blades of grass and twirls them together until they break. 

"Something like that," he repeats to himself, rolling the phrase around in his head and hoping it will eventually make sense, but all it seems to do is make his stomach flutter with a sensation he doesn't understand. Couldn't Takumi have just said they were friends and left it at that? As usual, Leo can never make heads or tails of how humans think. 

He knows that a part of Takumi will always be afraid of him, but something about Takumi's anxious behavior around him recently seems different. In the beginning, Takumi had been very careful around him--always alert. but never so nervous. Leo can't help but feel as if he might be hiding something. 

Perhaps Leo has only himself to blame for this. He must have alarmed Takumi with his recent behavior, his unexpected visits and friendly gestures. Leo wonders if maybe he was wrong to assume that they could share something so genuine as friendship between them, and that Takumi is only doing all of this to appease him for fear of the repercussions he might face otherwise. 

Leo squeezes his eyes shut and pinches the bridge of his nose, as if to physically banish the thought. No. Takumi thinks better of him than that. 

He has to. Leo has been trying so hard to be worthy of it. 

Leo finds himself so deeply embroiled in these troubling thoughts that he doesn't notice Takumi's return until the other announces it. 

"Oh, you're still here. Good," he pants as he crests the top of the hill, then bends over for a second to catch his breath. He is clutching a small cloth bag with colorful patterns resembling fireworks embroidered on it.

Leo stands up and brushes some stray grass off his cloak. "Did you run all the way here?" 

"I ended up getting an earful from the others when I got back, so it took me a lot longer than I thought it would," Takumi explains. "I thought you'd get impatient and leave." 

"You asked me to wait for you," Leo reminds him. 

"Well, yeah. I just wanted to give you this." Takumi loosens the drawstring of the bag and holds it out for Leo to see. 

Leo leans over, and his eyes widen. "Candy?" 

A colorful assortment of hard and soft candies, molded into the likeness of various fruits and other shapes and sprinkled with sugar, sit inside the little pouch. A pleasant fragrance drifts up from inside the bag, a mix of something sweet and floral. 

"You know I don't like sweets that much, right?" 

"You said it tasted even better than blood! Just try it," Takumi insists. 

With some measure of reluctance, Leo reaches in and picks out a soft candy shaped like a cherry blossom flower. With a final glance at Takumi, who gives him an expectant look in return, he bites into it. It has a chewy, almost gummy sort of texture, and the flavor carries with it a mild, aromatic sweetness that reminds him of the one night during the spring that Takumi had taken him cherry blossom viewing. 

"This is actually all right," Leo confesses, though it's a bit of an understatement. 

"I can tell you like it," Takumi says with a pout that somehow manages to exude an air of smugness at the same time. "You looked pretty happy with that candied apple, so you can take this home too."

At that, Leo can't help the tiny chuckle that escapes him. "Thank you," he says sincerely. 

"Uh-huh. It's...well, it's nice seeing you happy," Takumi says, and he gives Leo a bright, earnest smile. "It makes me happy, too." 

Warmth swells in Leo's chest. "Thank you." 

"You already said that." 

"Not just for the candy." Leo steps in closer to Takumi, who looks up at him reflexively, eyes wide. "Thank you for choosing me." 

Takumi squirms slightly and looks away, but doesn't step back. "Well, like I said earlier...actually, don't make me say it again. It's embarrassing." 

Leo laughs softly. "You're as strange as ever. Why would you be embarrassed to say something you've already said?" 

"Ugh, just let it go already, would you?" 

"But I'd like to hear it again." 

"Then go say it to yourself in a mirror, or something! I have to go, anyway." 

Leo's expression falls. "Already? You just got here." 

"I have to go help with all the cleanup now that the festival's over. My family's going to be even more upset with me than they already are if I'm not back soon," Takumi says. He presses the pouch of candies into Leo's hands, and this time he doesn't flinch when their fingers brush. "But I had a lot of fun tonight, and I'm glad you came. I'll see you again, Leo." 

Leo reaches out and grasps Takumi's hand gently in his for but a moment, just to imprint the feeling into his mind. 

"Soon," he promises. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope it was refreshing to see a more whimsical and lighthearted interaction after all the stuff in earlier chapters. thanks for reading!


	9. Lesson 9: Change

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its a long one, folks! the scene towards the end was inspired by and adapted from [this comic](http://geminid.tumblr.com/post/169138730896/finally-a-vampire-leo-comic-that-is-shorter-than) by geminid as always, so be sure to go see it and give it some love (better if you do it after the chapter)
> 
> enjoy!

The winter solstice brings sundown in the late afternoon of a quiet, cold day. Gentle snowfall patters against the windows as the sky takes on a deep indigo hue and a serene hush falls over the city of Shirasagi. 

In his room, bundled up in a heavy wool haori and seated in front of a gently crackling fire, Takumi moves his rook forward across the chess board. "It's been a while since we did this, hasn't it?" 

"I suppose we haven't really had the time," Leo says. He himself is dressed in a fur-lined coat beneath his usual traveling cloak, though it appears to be more of an aesthetic choice than one of warmth. He pauses for a second to ponder his next move, then sends his knight in. 

"What'd you do that for?" Takumi demands, and easily captures the knight. "You don't have to go easy on me just because I'm still learning." 

"Trust me, I'm not," Leo says, and with his next move he captures Takumi's queen piece. "Check." 

Takumi scowls at the board. "What? How?" 

"Look closely, Takumi. I have you trapped with a maneuver you could have easily avoided if you'd just taken an extra second to consider your next move." Leo raises an eyebrow at him. "This game isn't much different from shogi, you know."  

"I-I panicked," Takumi says in defense. "You didn't have to go _that_  hard on me." 

Leo rolls his eyes. "Well if you don't want me to go easy on you and you don't want me to go hard, then what exactly am I supposed to do?" 

"Ugh, forget it. I'm not really in the mood to play today, anyway." Takumi sighs and rubs the back of his neck. "Can we do something else?" 

"Well, I brought some texts from my library," Leo says, pulling a giant tome bound in surprisingly nice leather out from beneath his cloak. "I thought you might be interested in reading some old vampiric folk tales." 

Takumi shifts to sit next to Leo and takes the book, only to find his wrists buckle instantly under its weight. "Geez, what are these pages made out of, stone?" 

"The art of papermaking hadn't been perfected yet at the time this book was bound, so it's rather thick," Leo says in that humorless matter-of-fact tone of his. 

"You told me that the library at Krakenburg was ransacked some time before you and your family got there," Takumi says. 

"It had, but over the months I've managed to find and restore some of the artifacts and texts that were left behind." 

"I didn't know you knew how to do that." 

"It's something I've picked up over the years, since it's difficult to find any vampiric written work fully intact these days. This is an old favorite of mine, actually; back when we lived at the palace in Windmire, my siblings would always read to me, but the copy we had was lost during the Crusades." Leo puts a hand on the cover of the tome, his expression bright with pride and a bit of nostalgia. "I've been wanting to thank you for everything you've shown me and taught me about humans over this past year, and I thought this would be an appropriate expression of that gratitude." 

Takumi blinks, taken aback by Leo's response. "O-oh. Huh, so you do have manners after all." 

"Well, if it doesn't please you then I suppose we can go back to the way it was, and I'll be sure never to thank you for anything ever again," Leo huffs. 

"Aw, come on. I thought you'd finally gotten a sense of humor." Takumi nudges Leo gently with his elbow, and the other relents with a small laugh. "Really, though...this is nice. It kind of feels like I've actually started getting to know you recently." 

"What's that supposed to mean?" 

Takumi shrugs. "Don't you ever think about how even though we've spent all this time with each other, we don't actually know much about each other on a personal level?" 

"But you do know me--my strengths and weaknesses as a vampire, my history..." 

"I don't just mean about you as vampire, Leo. I mean _you_ , personally," Takumi says. He feels his cheeks grow warm, but he ignores it. "I don't know anything about what you like and dislike, whatever weird hobbies you have..." 

"Well, if you're asking now, then it's not as if I have anything to hide." Leo tilts his head in a brief moment of contemplation. "I like reading, gardening, learning about humans, and you. Although, I'm fairly sure that much has been obvious from the start." 

Heat rushes to Takumi's face instantly. "I...huh? Y-you like me?" 

Leo looks at him like he's grown a second head. "Of course I do. Did you think I would keep coming to see you if I didn't? I thought we'd already established that we were friends." 

Takumi tries not to be too obvious about the way he deflates a little at that. "Right...friends. Of course." 

"You can be so dense sometimes, really," Leo sighs. "But I suppose that in itself can be charming...Takumi, are you listening to me? You're the one who asked me in the first place, you know." 

"What?" Takumi tries to blink himself out of the daze he didn't notice he'd fallen into. "Um, yeah. I'm listening. Look, do you want to go somewhere else? It's getting kind of stuffy in here." 

Leo frowns at him. "It's the middle of winter. I can feel you shivering right now, Takumi." 

"It can be cold and stuffy at the same time," Takumi insists, and he gets to his feet and pulls his haori tighter around himself. "Are you coming or not?" 

"Where are we going?" Leo asks as he follows Takumi out the door. 

"The library. It's warmer and easier to breathe in there." 

"I wasn't aware that humans could be so sensitive to the atmospheres of their own homes," Leo muses. 

"Yeah, well, we're delicate like that," Takumi replies, tucking his cold hands into the sleeves of his haori as he sets a brisk pace on the path to the manor library. 

Leo is quiet for a while, and Takumi can practically hear the gears turning in his head. Sure enough, he breaks the silence soon after. "Takumi..." he begins. "You know you can always talk to me if there's something on your mind, right?" 

"Yeah, I'll remember that," Takumi says without looking back at him. He pushes open the library door and the first thing he notices is how stagnant the air is, but at least it's warmer in here than it is in the rest of the manor. "I'm going to get started on this book you gave me." 

"...Right. Then I suppose I'll find something here to entertain me," Leo says, sounding a little downcast. 

Without replying, Takumi heads over to one of the corners of the library and tucks himself into an armchair before pulling open the giant tome of folk tales Leo had given him. The text is written in dark ink on thick, leathery paper, and Takumi realizes that it is all in an archaic vampiric language that he can't read a single word of. However, as he turns over the first few pages, he discovers a few pieces of parchment slipped in between them. Hoshidan characters written in slim, slanted script cover the parchment, and it occurs to him that this must be Leo's handwriting--he had translated the stories for Takumi. 

Takumi holds the parchment with Leo's writing up next to the loopy, curling vampiric text. The two written languages are distinctly different in aesthetic, yet somehow Takumi can see the nature of the vampiric writing in Leo's script. Both are beautiful, with an ornate but not gaudy elegance to them; Takumi has half a mind to ask Leo why he had bothered giving him the entire book when he could have just handed over the translations, but he gets the feeling Leo knew he would appreciate having the original as reference, at least for admiration's sake. 

As Takumi takes a bit longer to study the vampiric text, he glances up to see Leo taking a seat in the armchair across from him, holding a book that he recognizes as a compilation of contemporary Hoshidan poems. 

"I didn't know you were into poetry," Takumi remarks. 

"I'm not, really," Leo replies. "At least, not as an art. But I've come to find that it's a good way of learning more about how humans think." Leo reaches into his cloak then, and pulls out a small, familiar-looking pouch. He places it on the lampdesk in between them, and opens it to reveal an assortment of candies that Takumi had gifted him the previous week. "Feel free." 

"You know I can always get my own whenever I want, right? These are yours." 

"And I like sharing them," Leo says. He gives Takumi a small smile. "It's nice having more things we can do together. Can you blame me for wanting to feel a little closer to you?" 

Heat rises up the back of Takumi's neck, and he looks away. "I really wish you wouldn't say stuff like that." 

"What? What did I do?" Leo asks, looking genuinely perplexed. 

"Nothing," Takumi mutters. "Let's not waste any more time." 

"Hm. I didn't know we were on a schedule," Leo says with a sniff, but he quiets down anyway, and soon the two of them settle into their respective readings. 

Takumi delves into the folk tale collection, pausing every once in a while in his reading to study the vampiric script. The language is one he doesn't recognize, but the lettering itself uses the same characters as some other modern languages Takumi has studied before, and he recognizes many common roots and syntactic structures between them. It's surprising, but at the same time not so much. He's come to learn lately that vampires and humans share many characteristics and backgrounds in the strangest of aspects. 

An hour passes, and though Takumi genuinely enjoys diving into this new material, he finds his attention slipping towards other things, making it harder and harder to concentrate on the task in front of him. More than once he finds his gaze wandering involuntarily away from the pages--and towards Leo, who is immersed in his own book.

Takumi tries to shake himself inwardly and bring his focus back in, but the words are starting to swim in his vision and getting from one end of the page to the next suddenly feels like a pain in the neck. Inevitably, his eyes move again towards the figure across from him. 

Leo, seated in the armchair with perfect posture and legs crossed in front of him, holding his book by the spine in one hand and turning the pages delicately, almost reverently, with the other. His eyes move inhumanly fast, absorbing and processing in mere seconds what takes Takumi at least several minutes to do. It makes Takumi envious--what did vampires do to deserve such unique strength and cleverness? But it also fascinates him. Leo, who is so different from him, yet so much the same in other ways. Leo, who looked at him with such distaste when they first met, but kept coming back anyway, and now can't seem to stay away. 

Leo, a vampire, with his beautiful, terrifying eyes and painfully scathing wit, who treats Takumi with such kindness and affection that few humans outside of his family ever have. 

Takumi feels his throat turn dry and he tries in vain to fight the tightening sensation in his chest. He can't tell if he was cursed with misfortune or blessed with incredible luck to have met Leo. 

"Takumi?" 

Takumi jolts in his seat, barely holding back a startled yelp as he comes back to the present to see Leo staring at him with a concerned frown. "Jeez, what?" Takumi demands in a hasty attempt to mask his distress. "You broke my concentration." 

"I just wanted to make sure you were all right," Leo says. "Your breathing quickened all of a sudden and you were staring into space. Did something happen?" 

"My breathing is fine. I'm fine," Takumi says with a dismissive wave of his hand, although it ends up looking more like a panicked flapping motion. He puts his hand down and holds it firmly in his lap. "Why do you always have to be so focused on weird stuff like that? Stop listening to every sound I make." 

"But..." An arrangement of conflicting emotions crosses Leo's face, and he lets out an awkward, nervous sound. "Look, I can tell something is on your mind. You're terrible at hiding your emotions." 

"Maybe you're just not as perceptive as you think you are. Although you are really good at making everything you say sound like an insult." 

"I'm not insulting you!" Leo sighs. "Takumi, I know you. And I thought that you would trust me enough by now to not feel like you have to hide yourself away from me when something's going on." 

Takumi shifts in his seat, folding his legs up against his chest and hugging them. He glares at the floor and doesn't reply. 

"You could at least look me in the eye when we're talking." 

"...I can't," Takumi mumbles. 

"I don't understand," Leo says, his voice tense with frustration. "Have I done something to offend you? Just tell me so that I can make it up to you somehow." 

"Look, not everything is about you, all right?" Takumi snaps, agitation spilling into his voice before he can rein it in. "I'm just trying to figure something out, and I don't need you pressuring me about it every step of the way!" 

Leo stares at him for a moment, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape, before gathering himself and schooling his expression into one of cold, detached calm. He closes his book quietly, places it on the desk next to the pouch of uneaten candy, and rises from his seat. "If you wanted me gone, you could have just said so." 

Takumi scrambles to his feet as well, already deeply regretting his words. "Wait--" 

"I'll give you some time alone. You can come find me when you're ready to talk." 

Takumi watches, rooted in place as if by some invisible force, as Leo stalks out of the library without a single backwards glance. The library's double oak doors close behind him with a quiet, shuddering creak, and then Takumi is alone. 

With an angry growl, he throws himself back into the armchair and buries his face in his arms as hot tears of frustration and disappointment well up in his eyes. Trust Leo to make everything harder than it needs to be. 

But as hard as Takumi tries to hold onto the anger, it melts away as quickly as it came. He can never seem to stay mad at Leo for long.

Takumi scrubs at his face, wiping a stray tear away on his sleeve. "Idiot," he mutters to himself, voice thick. "Why do I always have to screw things up for myself?" 

He could wallow there in the library all night, he imagines, but after a few minutes the sound of a voice drifting through the window, low and muffled by the glass, draws his attention. Alarmed, Takumi leans out of the armchair and looks out towards the courtyard. 

Leo is down in the gardens below, playing a game of fetch with Manju and her favorite cloth ball. A thin layer of snow blankets the entire courtyard, but neither of them seems to mind the gentle drizzle coming down on them. Takumi can hear Leo laughing, gentle and playful, as Manju retrieves her prize eagerly and bumps her snout against his hand to prompt him for her reward: a good-natured scratch between the ears that ruffles her fur and makes her squeeze her eyes closed in delight. 

"That moron...what if someone sees him?" Takumi breathes, but something keeps him there at the window as he continues watching Leo and Manju shower each other with adoration. Even from here, he can see the warmth in Leo's eyes and the tenderness in his smile, and he wonders when that had started to become a familiar sight to him. He wonders if he looks at Leo the same way, if he's even capable of that same sort of genuine kindness. 

Quietly, Takumi reaches into the pocket of his haori and wraps his fingers around a small parcel that he'd placed there earlier in the evening, then turns and makes his way out of the library. The halls are dark as ever, and Takumi realizes several steps in that he'd forgotten to bring his lamp, but turning back now might give him second thoughts. He quickens his pace, ignoring the way his own frantic breathing fills the air around him.   

Leo is still in the garden, rubbing Manju's belly and murmuring soothingly to her, when Takumi effectively bursts into the courtyard, winded and most likely looking a little manic. 

Leo glances up at him, his gaze cool and distant, before turning his attention back to Manju. "Was I too loud? I'll leave if you want me to." 

"No, don't go," Takumi says hastily, pulling the little parcel out of his pocket before he's even finished catching his breath. "You didn't do anything wrong. I came to apologize and, um...to give you this." 

Leo looks up and eyes the parcel skeptically. "You expect to pay me off with a trinket? That's not a very impressive apology." 

"Actually, it's just something I've been meaning to give you," Takumi says, unable to help the way his voice turns quiet with shyness. "C-can we talk...?" 

Wordlessly, Leo accepts the gift and unwraps the patterned paper folded around it to reveal a small, thin box. When he lifts the lid, his eyes widen in surprise. Inside the box is the little blue flower he had conjured for Takumi several months ago at the shrine, now pressed and preserved in a thin resin casing in the form of a bookmark. 

"This...this is beautiful. I didn't even know you'd kept the flower," Leo says. "I figured you had let it die ages ago." 

"I couldn't bring myself to do that," Takumi confesses, ears turning warm despite the cold air. "I finished it a while ago, but I could never find the right timing to give it to you. Sorry." 

"Don't be sorry. I'm glad you decided to give it to me at all." Leo picks the bookmark up and raises it against the gentle light of the stars dotting the sky. "I love it. Thank you, Takumi." 

"Uh-huh." Takumi fidgets with the sleeves of his haori. "Um...so, do you have a moment?" 

"Of course." Leo places the bookmark back into its box, which he then tucks safely into his cloak before beckoning at Takumi to follow him to the outer walkway of the courtyard. Manju trails behind them quietly, as if she can also sense something in the air, and then lays herself down at their feet as they sit down next to each other on the wooden steps leading back up into the manor.

Takumi takes a deep breath before letting it out slowly, willing himself not to lose his nerve despite the insistent hammering in his chest. 

"I now I've been acting weird lately," he begins, and forces himself to meet Leo's gaze. "I'm really sorry about that. I know it's been confusing for you." 

Leo's eyes hold the same eerie glow that's become so familiar to Takumi, but underneath it he can see the concern--and a bit of relief, as well. "I just want to know that you're all right."

Takumi musters a grateful smile. "I'm fine, there's nothing wrong. I just feel like lately...things have been changing. For me, that is. I mean, you're still as infuriating as ever--you're stubborn, impossible to please, and a huge know-it-all." 

Leo gives him a flat look. "By all means, please continue." 

"You know I'm right," Takumi insists. "But I mean--I don't really mind all of that, because you're also one of the most amazing people I've ever met. You're kind and smart and you see me as a friend even after all the awful things I've said to you and everything that's happened between our people in the past...and I guess somewhere along the way I fell for that part of you." 

Leo's expression twists into something Takumi can't quite read. "Wait, what are you saying?" 

At that, Takumi lets out a quiet sigh. "Of course you'd make me spell it out for you." He averts his gaze reflexively, but then wills himself to look up again and musters up the last of his courage. "Look, I like you, okay? I...I might even be in love with you. So there." 

The silence that ensues seems to stretch on forever as Leo continues staring at him with that same unreadable expression. Takumi starts to feel like he might simply crumple under the weight of it when Leo finally opens his mouth again. 

"...You might?" 

Takumi had predicted a number of different reactions from Leo, ranging from disinterest to pity to utter disgust, but he hadn't accounted for the skepticism currently writing itself all over the other's face. Thrown off guard, he stumbles for a response, only to be interrupted. 

"I think you must be confused," Leo says with a tiny shake of his head, as if he's lecturing a child. "You may not pay much attention to the involuntary reactions of your body, but I do. Your heart rate always increases whenever I approach you, and you flinch every time we make any sort of physical contact. I don't think you realize that you still have an innate fear of vampires."  

Takumi puts his hands up, stopping Leo in his tracks. "Okay, hold on! That is not why I--" He sputters, too frantic and shocked by Leo's declaration to sort his thoughts properly, and has to take a second to gather himself back up. "Look, there's stuff about humans that you obviously still don't know. Fear isn't the only thing that makes our hearts beat faster." 

Leo frowns slightly. "What do you mean?" 

"Well, maybe sometimes you do freak me out a little, but most of the time I'm really just...nervous," Takumi says. "See, humans tend to get nervous or anxious when they're around someone they, um, really like. Their hearts start racing, and their faces turn red..." He trails off, too flustered by his own words to continue. 

"Oh...like yours is right now." Leo lets out a low, quiet laugh. 

Takumi's lip quivers with indignation. "How can you laugh at me? None of that was easy for me to say, you know." 

"I'm sorry, I'm not laughing at you," Leo says, and he brings a hand up to his face. "It's me. I'm an idiot." 

"Right, I knew that already," Takumi deadpans. 

Instead of retorting, Leo just smiles sheepishly. "There are certain things about vampires that I haven't told you, either." He raises his hands. "When a vampire is around someone they harbor affections for, their hands turn cold." 

Takumi cocks an eyebrow. "Are you messing with me? Your hands are never anything but cold...oh." 

Slowly, as if to give Takumi a chance to move away, Leo reaches forward and touches Takumi's hand. Sure enough, his skin is ice cold, as always. But Takumi doesn't pull away--instead, he lets Leo tangle their fingers together. 

"It was only an infatuation at first," Leo explains. "I was so excited to have met an actual human, someone who could teach me more about their kind than any book ever could. I thought about you constantly; I assumed it was merely because I was curious about you, but as we spent more time together those thoughts turned into yearning." 

Little by little, Takumi feels Leo's skin start to warm up against his. 

"I wanted to tell you," Leo continues. "But I wasn't sure of where your boundaries lay. I wondered if you still saw me as something dangerous, to be kept at a distance. You seemed so reluctant to accept me even as just a friend...although I suppose now I know why." 

Takumi blushes, the heat going right to his head and making him reel slightly at the rush. "I didn't know. I guess that just goes to show how little I know about vampires." 

"I still have a lot to learn about humans, too." Leo squeezes Takumi's hand and fixes him with a beseeching gaze. "You aren't going to ask me to leave, are you? I...I'd like to be with you." 

Takumi's stomach flutters. "No, of course not--I mean, I wouldn't...I want to be with you, too," Takumi finally gets out, his words rushing out of him all in one breath. "But, um...I don't know anything about how vampires show affection for each other." 

At that, Leo simply leans in and touches his lips to Takumi's for the briefest of moments before pulling away, his cheeks dusted pink. "I believe this is a practice both of our people have in common." 

"Actually," Takumi says, still slightly dazed, "humans do it more like this." He puts his arms around Leo's neck, drawing him in once again, and plants a long, firm kiss against his mouth. Warmth spreads throughout his body as Leo seems to melt against him for a moment. 

Leo's eyes are wide as they separate, and a deep crimson blots his cheeks. "I can live with that," he says faintly, and his lips curve into a smile as Takumi pulls him in again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeehaw confession scenes are always painfully difficult for me to write but i did my best on this one so i hope you guys liked it! thanks for reading!


	10. Lesson 10: Rebirth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oof, this is so incredibly late, and i'm super sorry. i got swept up in the holiday rush of things, but i finally got a moment to take the time to get this out for you guys. thanks for waiting, everyone. here's the final chapter. 
> 
> enjoy!

Spring brings Leo back to the wild cherry blossom grove, where Takumi had led him to the tiny hidden lake a year ago. 

It still fascinates Leo to think of how much has changed in so little time. To a human like Takumi, a year can be a long time; even in a single season, a human sees their world transform in a myriad of different ways. But to Leo, this past year felt like the blink of an eye. 

One day he and Takumi were laying eyes on each other the first time, the two of them weighing each other with their gazes alone, trying to decide whether to run or fight, and before Leo knew it they had taken a third path that had brought them here, together on the day of peak bloom.

Leo reaches down and skims a finger over the surface of the lake water as his lets his thoughts run idly through his head. The water is crisp and cool, just the right temperature--although to Takumi Leo is sure it would be just short of freezing. He looks up to where the other sits across from him on the tiny rowboat, oars in hand as he takes the two of them towards the center of the lake. 

Takumi, as usual, doesn't look nearly as content as Leo feels. 

"Would it kill you to help me out here? Rowing for two isn't easy," Takumi grumbles, though he hardly sounds short of breath. 

"You're the one who volunteered," Leo says. "You have your job, and I have mine." 

"You're just holding the parasol! I only volunteered to go first because I thought we were alternating." 

"Don't be ridiculous. This lake isn't even big enough for that. We're already practically there." Leo shifts his grip on the parasol, careful to keep himself covered in the shade. "Besides, I already made my sacrifice by choosing to come in the middle of the day. What would we do if I ended up with a sunburn?" 

"How about I knock that dumb thing out of your hand and we'll find out?" 

"And while you're busy with that, who will row us back to shore?" 

Takumi groans, rolling his eyes. "You're impossible." 

"So you've told me before," is Leo's retort.

They scowl at each other, although Takumi's expression looks more like a pout, but can only hold each other's gazes for a short moment before breaking down into a fit of laughter.  

"Well, don't stop rowing," Leo teases as the two of them bring themselves back down.

"Eh, the momentum will do the rest of the work," Takumi says with a wave of his hand. "Besides, you're the one who just said we were basically already there. So how's the view?" 

The cherry blossom trees surrounding the lake are in full bloom, and all it takes is a mild breeze to send flurries of their pale pink petals drifting down over the lake. They scatter around the rowboat, landing in Takumi's hair and clinging to his kimono like little adornments. He smiles unconsciously as they graze his cheeks and brush against his hands, and Leo feels himself falling harder for him with each second that passes. 

"It's perfect," he says with a dazed smile.

Takumi blushes under Leo's fond gaze. "You're not even looking at the trees." 

"We can fix that." Leo picks up a handful of cherry blossom petals from the pile that's been slowly building up on the floor of the boat, then sprinkles them over Takumi's head. 

Takumi swats at him halfheartedly, unable to hold back a playful smile. "Okay, very funny. Let's see how clever you are once I've evened up the playing field." Without warning, he reaches down to grasp a handful of petals and returns the favor by tossing them at Leo. 

Leo turns away a second too late, and he lets out a delighted laugh as the flowers tickle his cheeks. He picks one up, holding it between his fingers. It is smooth and cool to the touch, and he can feel the life energy flowing through the thousands of minuscule veins within, though it is fading quickly now that it has been separated from its source. Such ephemeral beauty. 

Inadvertently, Leo finds his thoughts turning towards Takumi. How many more springs will the two of them get to spend together like this? The other's life is already a quarter lived, while in comparison Leo's has really only just begun. By the time Leo's own natural life comes to an end, Takumi will long have become little more than ash and a distant, fond memory. Just the thought of it makes the cold pit in Leo's stomach grow heavier. 

"Hey." A warm hand on his pulls Leo out of his thoughts. "What's wrong?" 

Leo takes Takumi's hand and holds it tightly between his before bringing it up to his lips. "Takumi," he says quietly against the other's warm skin, expression pleading. "Won't you reconsider my offer?" 

Takumi's expression turns solemn, and he lets out a tiny sigh, but doesn't reply. Instead, he merely takes up the oars and begins rowing the boat back towards the shore. 

Leo doesn't fight the silence; he knows that his words have thrown Takumi's thoughts into conflict, but he can't control the way anxiety bubbles in his stomach as he waits for the other to find his voice. 

The rowboat bumps up against the pier with a hollow thump, and Leo follows Takumi back up onto the shore. From there, Takumi leads him onto the bank, where he'd left a satchel and a woven basket before they embarked on their little voyage onto the lake. Now, he retrieves a thin blanket from the satchel and lays it out on the grass before inviting Leo to sit next to him on it. 

Leo watches, still patient, as Takumi begins unloading the woven basket and lays out an assortment of fruits, candies, and human foods, all without speaking a single word or even so much as meeting Leo's eyes. 

After the basket has been emptied, the two of them sit there in continued silence, neither of them touching the food. Unable to tolerate the distance between them, Leo shifts closer to Takumi, and leans in to rest his head on Takumi's shoulder. Takumi welcomes the contact, reaching up to run a hand through Leo's hair, but after a moment he drops his hand back into his lap. 

"I wish I could," Takumi says so quietly that his voice breaks. "You have no idea how badly I wish I could have that much longer to spend with you." 

"So let me turn you," Leo says, his voice tight with urgency as he sits up to look at Takumi. "It will only hurt for a moment. Think about it--an instant of pain for an eternity with me." 

Takumi smiles a sad, wistful smile. "It's not that simple and you know it. I can't just leave my family and my city." 

"I'm not asking you to leave anyone. You could still be with them." 

"I haven't even told them about you yet," Takumi says. There is a weariness in his expression that Leo has seen glimpses of in the past. "I want to change Shirasagi for the better, and I know that the first step to that is teaching them more about vampires like you and your family, but it won't work if I do it as anything other than a human. They need me as I am." 

"You would choose your city's wishes over your own?" 

"Wouldn't you, if it was your responsibility to make them happy?" 

"I..." Leo hesitates, unsure of how to answer. He doesn't remember what it was like to live as a prince; all his life, his only responsibility has been to himself and to his siblings.   

Takumi must see the conflict in his expression, for he smiles and reaches up to smooth out the frown that had formed on Leo's brow. "It's not just that, Leo. I fell for you as a human, and I want to be with you as a human," Takumi says. "I know it's selfish and it doesn't make any sense, but I just...I get this feeling that it would be different if you turned me. It just wouldn't feel the same." 

Leo bites his lip, still reluctant, but he can see that Takumi has no intentions of taking his decision back. With a sigh, he relents. "All right." 

"So you understand?" Takumi says, his eyes lighting up with relief. 

"Well, no, not really," Leo admits. "But I'll respect your decision. There's no point in going through with it if it makes you unhappy." 

"That's good enough for me." Takumi wraps his arms around Leo and buries his face in his chest. "Thank you...I love you." 

Leo returns the embrace, hugging Takumi tightly and resting his cheek on top of his head. The scent of sweet cherry blossoms permeates the air around them, and Leo fights the heaviness in his heart. "I love you, too."

They fall into silence, the two of them simply enjoying the feeling of being in each other's arms, until a low growling sound makes them pull away to stare at each other. 

"Um," Takumi says, putting a hand over his stomach. "Sorry...?" 

"Actually, I think that was me," Leo says sheepishly. "I've been practically starving ever since we got here." 

Takumi laughs. "Well, why didn't you say something?" 

"We were a little distracted, in case you hadn't noticed," Leo huffs, but he gratefully accepts the bowl of strawberries Takumi pushes into his arms. 

"It wasn't easy sneaking all of this stuff out of the manor, so I'd better not hear any complaints today." 

Leo puts a hand up in surrender. "I wouldn't dream of it," he says. 

"Dig in, then," Takumi says, taking a fruit tart for himself. "The more we eat here the less I have to carry back, probably without your help." 

"You could stand to have a little more confidence in me," Leo says with a mock pout. 

"Uh-huh, because you really stepped up with the whole rowing thing," Takumi retorts. "I should never have given you that umbrella." 

"It's a parasol, and I will cherish it for the rest of my life," Leo says, patting said parasol where it lies on the ground next to him. 

Takumi rolls his eyes, but then breaks into a small smile. "You know, I never would have taken you for someone who liked being spoiled so much." 

"Before you start psychoanalyzing me, just know that you're the one who chose to give me all of these gifts," Leo points out. "I just know how to appreciate something good when it falls into my lap." 

"Uh-huh, I'm sure it has nothing to do with all those times you've complained about your siblings not giving you enough attention." 

Leo bristles. "I have never--" 

"Relax, you know I was joking." Takumi gives him a sympathetic look. "Besides, I know how it feels." 

Leo huffs and takes an angry bite out of a strawberry, but the irritation melts away as syrupy, sugary bliss takes over. "This is...amazing. I've never been able to raise anything so sweet in the garden at Krakenburg." 

"That's probably because they get so much more sun here," Takumi says. "Magic can't do everything, you know." 

Leo looks up at Takumi, at the way his warm brown eyes light up in quiet delight as he takes the first bite out of his tart, his freckled cheeks all but glowing with contentment beneath the sunlight. Such joy he finds in an activity so simple as eating--and Leo suddenly realizes that if he were to accept the bite, he would never have the chance to experience it again with the foods he grew up eating. Remorse wells up within Leo as he comes to understand that Takumi would never be happy as a vampire, even if it meant that the two of them would get to spend the rest of their lives together. A sad smile curves across his lips, unbidden, but at the same time the weight in his chest seems to lighten ever so slightly "Maybe I was foolish to make such a request of you." 

Takumi glances up, caught off guard with his mouth full of fruit tart. "Hm?" 

Leo can't help but chuckle fondly at the sight. "Nothing. Have I ever told you you're adorable when you're eating?" He brushes some crumbs off the corner of Takumi's mouth, then presses a small kiss there. 

Takumi grimaces as he swallows his food. "Don't do that while I'm eating. It's awkward." 

"Right. I'll remember that for future reference," Leo promises with a laugh that fades quickly into a contemplative hum. "Say, can I ask you something?" 

"Depends on what it is." 

"Those fortunes we picked up at the shrine...once a fortune comes to pass, what do you do with it?" 

Takumi blinked. "You mean, the actual scrolls? I'm not sure. I've never really thought about it." 

"Really? But you put so much faith in them," Leo says. 

"Well, the ones we don't like we leave behind, but as for the good ones...to be honest, I usually forget about them after a while. I guess if you managed to pull a really great one that actually came true, you would want to keep it to remember it, or something," Takumi says. He taps his chin. "I really can't remember the last time I pulled a fortune worth keeping. Why? Did yours come true?" 

Leo raises an eyebrow at him. "Take a wild guess." 

Takumi turns away, but not before Leo spots a tiny, pleased smile. "Since when did you make it your mission to embarrass me every time you open your mouth?" 

"I'm only being honest." Leo reaches into his cloak, rummages around for a second, then pulls out a familiar, now slightly worn out velvet pouch. 

"Whoa, you still have that?" Takumi asks as he watches Leo retrieve his fortune from the pouch. 

"I may be a skeptic, but I'm not one to simply dismiss an idea without seeing it out for myself," Leo says. "All things considered, I suppose I can admit there must have been certain forces at work here." 

"Wow, this must be real humbling for you," Takumi says flatly. "So what are you going to do with the fortune? Maybe if you throw it into the lake, it'll grant you another wish." 

"I've already told you before that that's an outdated Nohrian tradition--and we threw coins, not paper," Leo huffs. 

Takumi laughs, eyes bright with mirth. "Yeah, yeah. Maybe you can frame it and keep it in your room, or something. Give the place some color." 

"What would you know about what my room looks like? There could be plenty of color in there." 

"Leo, you've worn a different outfit every time we've seen each other, and they're all black and purple," Takumi says. "I'm having a tough time imagining the situation being any different for your room." 

"Well, you're free to continue entertaining yourself at my expense, but I've already got an idea," Leo says. He lays the fortune flat against his palm, then begins channeling magic into it as he murmurs a quiet incantation. The parchment shudders, then begins to curl and fold into itself.

When the spell finishes, the paper has taken the shape of a tiny rose, its white petals swirling with black ink and a single leaf sprouting from its stem. 

Takumi's expression brightens when he sees it. "It's so pretty." 

"It's for you," Leo says, and he offers it forward. "One that you won't have to preserve to make it last." 

"You mean I can keep it? Are you sure?" Takumi takes it carefully, just as he had with the little blue flower Leo had conjured at the shrine. "But this was your fortune." 

"It's done its job for me," Leo says. "It's brought me a good deal of happiness; I wanted to see that it could do the same for you." 

Takumi's eyes are soft with affection as he runs a finger over the flower's petals gently, almost as if it is alive. "I'll take good care of it," he promises. 

Leo watches as Takumi, absorbed in the flower's beauty, admires it for a moment longer with a tiny, fascinated smile, before placing it into his basket. As he closes the basket, Leo takes his hand and basks in the way Takumi's warmth flares against his own cold skin. The sound of Takumi's heartbeat, rhythmic and strong, has long become a source of reassurance and comfort to Leo, and it becomes more clear to him by the minute that he could not stand to lose it. 

"I think I'm starting to understand your decision," Leo murmurs. 

Takumi returns Leo's gesture by squeezing his hand gently, then looks up at him without saying anything, waiting. 

Leo sighs softly. The realization is a quiet, heavy one. "I fell in love with you because of how different we are. I don't want to lose that." 

"Well, it's good to see that you've finally come to your senses." 

"I just...don't know what I'm going to do with myself once you're gone." Leo's hands tremble, and he tightens his grip on Takumi until his knuckles turn white. 

"Hey." Takumi pulls his hands away and reaches up to cradle Leo's face, tilting his head up to catch his gaze. "We have time, Leo. All we have to do is make it count" 

Leo takes in a deep breath, relaxing into Takumi's touch and letting the knot in his stomach loosen and disappear. "In that case," he breathes, "let's not waste another second." And he leans forward and seals his lips over Takumi's. 

Takumi receives his kiss and all of its urgency with a slow, gentle patience, his hands sliding up to lace through Leo's hair as the two of them come together again. Warmth blooms in Leo's chest every time they move their lips against each other in quiet mutual reverence, and as they pull away, soft breaths falling into the air between them, Leo's voice trembles as he whispers, 

"I need you." 

"I'm right here," Takumi replies, voice steady.

Leo swallows and wishes he had the same strength. "I could spend an eternity with you here, in this moment." 

Takumi's lips curl into a teasing smile. "And miss out on all the great things we'll get to see and do together in the future? Where's your sense of adventure?" 

In reply, Leo puts a hand against Takumi's chest, right above the other's heart, and takes in the feeling of the rhythmic thump-thump against his palm. Above them, the sound of cherry blossoms rustling in the breeze fills the air, and the warmth of the sun filters through the branches to surround them. In the distance, the denizens of the wood chitter to each other as they gather their meals from what the forest has to offer, and Leo rests his forehead against Takumi's as the two of them listen to the world around them being born anew. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you guys may have noticed, but i didn't make leo completely undead as a vampire. he's somewhere in between, a creature who is technically alive but strange and powerful and long-lived enough to still have a supernatural aura about him. i hope it worked :,) 
> 
> thanks to everyone who read, left kudos, left comments, or bookmarked! it was a real great journey and accomplishment writing and finishing this fic, so i'm glad i got to share it all with you. let me know how you felt, all comments and kudos are welcome. happy holidays everyone!


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